South Korea is keeping a close eye on whether North Korea dispatches a delegation to Beijing to mark the 100th anniversary of the Chinese ruling party, the unification ministry said Monday.

Thursday will mark the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party, while Pyongyang and Beijing are set to celebrate the 60th anniversary of their friendship treaty next month.

"The government is keeping a close watch on the situation as several commemorative events are being carried out between North Korea and China with more weight than before on the occasion of this year's anniversary," Lee Jong-joo, the ministry's spokesperson, told a regular press briefing.

"In the past, the two countries have sent senior delegates to the other country to mark major anniversaries, such as on the 10th and 20th anniversary," she said.

Lee, however, said the prolonged border closure due to the coronavirus situation is likely to be a "major factor" that will determine Pyongyang's decision.

Pyongyang has been recently seeking to maintain closer ties with its traditional ally amid an impasse in nuclear negotiations with Washington.

In a recent op-ed piece in the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party, Li Jinjun, the Chinese ambassador to North Korea, stressed the importance of cooperation between the two allies on regional peace, stability and prosperity.

North Korean Ambassador to China Ri Ryong-nam also wrote an op-ed in China's People's Daily and urged unwavering efforts to build on bilateral relations. (Yonhap)