China expresses confidence in NKorea's leader Kim

BEIJING (AP) — China's top foreign policy official has met a North Korean delegation and expressed confidence in the country's young leader just over a week after Pyongyang conducted a rocket launch that Beijing had discouraged.

The Foreign Ministry said State Councilor Dai Bingguo met a North Korean group led by Kim Yong Il, secretary of the central committee of the ruling Workers' Party and alternate member of the Political Bureau.

Dai says that he was confident that under Kim Jong Un, North Korea will continue to move toward building a prosperous country.

China is the North's biggest ally but had expressed concern about its rocket launch, which the U.S. said was a cover for testing long-range missile technology. The U.S. suspended food aid to North Korea after the failed launch.

North Korea had touted the Unha-3 rocket that broke apart April 13 as its most ambitious effort yet to join the exclusive club of space-faring nations. It said the rocket carried an Earth observation satellite, though many nations say the launch was a cover for testing long-range missile technology.

Analysts said Friday's failure, which appeared to come in the rocket's first stage, suggests that North Korea is not learning much from its mistakes. Its Unha rocket shots in 1998, 2006 and 2009 are all believed to have ended in failure.