On October 19, 2006, Kim Jong Il, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Worker's Party of Korea and Chairman of the National Defense Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), met with State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, who is also special envoy of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) & President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao, in Pyongyang. Tang conveyed Hu's message to Kim. The two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on China-DPRK relations and the current situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Tang, who arrived in the DPRK on Oct. 18, was accompanied by Dai Bingguo, director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and Wu Dawei, vice minister of Foreign Affairs. Prior to his arrival in the DPRK, Tang also paid working visits to the United States and Russia.