China’s Xi Jinping expected to visit North Korea as early as next week

Chinese leader Xi Jinping could visit North Korea as early as next week, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported on Thursday. The trip would follow Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Pyongyang last month, as long-standing ties between the two sides grow warmer. “We have obtained intelligence indicating that President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea soon,” the Yonhap report said, citing a government source. Another government official told Yonhap that Xi might visit North Korea later this month or early next month, while a separate source said the Chinese leader could seek to mediate relations between North Korea and the United States. When asked about the Yonhap report later in the day, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said he had “nothing to share” at the moment, but added that the two countries were “good friends and close neighbours” and had been maintaining friendly exchanges. On the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, Guo said that China’s policy and position on the issue maintained “continuity and consistency”, and it would play a constructive role in the political settlement of the issue in its own way. Foreign Minister Wang’s April 9-10 visit to North Korea, his first since 2019, included meetings not only with his counterpart Choe Son-hui but also the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un. During his talks with Kim, Wang said that the two countries should defend their respective security and development interests, and strengthen coordination on major global issues “in the face of a turbulent international environment”. The Yonhap report arrived just as Xi wrapped up back-to-back summits with US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, with Serbia’s president also due to visit within days. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is scheduled to be in China from May 24 to 28. If Xi’s trip to North Korea takes place, it will mark his second visit to the country since his first as China’s leader in 2019. When asked about Xi’s potential visit, the South Korean presidential office said in a statement that it was “monitoring related movements” and expressed hopes China could “play a constructive role” in issues related to the Korean peninsula. As North Korea’s primary economic and political partner, China has been working with Pyongyang to restore a relationship that weakened during the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdowns. China has resumed direct flight and passenger train services to Pyongyang in recent months. But North Korea’s post-pandemic reopening has been selective. So far, it has welcomed only Russian visitors while keeping its doors closed to international tourism. Chinese nationals accounted for the largest share of foreign tourists before Pyongyang shut its borders in 2020. Kim visited Beijing last September, where he appeared alongside Xi and Putin during a significant military parade. A joint statement issued after Wednesday’s summit between Xi and Putin reaffirmed their opposition to foreign pressure on Pyongyang, including the policy of isolation, economic sanctions, military pressure and other methods that create security threats to North Korea. Trump, who held three summits with Kim during his 2017-2021 first term, focused on Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions and has expressed openness to further talks. Trump said after his trip to Beijing last week that he had kept in touch with Kim amid his China visit and again noted his good ties with the North Korean leader. Xi and Trump discussed the Korean peninsula issue during their pivotal May 14 summit, but very few official details were provided. The White House fact sheet issued after the summit only stated that the leaders “confirmed their shared goal to denuclearise North Korea”. South Korea is turning to China to help break the ice with the North after years of frozen relations, especially after Pyongyang repeatedly rebuffed overtures from President Lee Jae Myung. In late December 2023, North Korea officially declared inter-Korean relations as being between “two hostile states”. South Korea on Monday released a unification white paper that defined the two Koreas as separate states for the first time, signalling a major pivot towards peaceful coexistence with its nuclear-armed neighbour. Meanwhile, Lee’s visit to China in early January helped to rebuild the diplomatic momentum between Beijing and Seoul. But while both leaders agreed on regional stability, Xi stopped short of explicitly endorsing the immediate denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. As of 2022, China has omitted the phrase “denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula” from its official diplomatic readouts and policy documents.

China’s Xi Jinping expected to visit North Korea as early as next week

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The news comes hard on the heels of visits to Beijing by the presidents of the United States and Russia

The news comes hard on the heels of visits to Beijing by the presidents of the United States and Russia