Kenneth Glad
The trip puts a rare leadership meeting back on the diplomatic calendar. It comes as Pyongyang balances its ties with both Beijing and Moscow.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea on June 8 and 9, according to announcements reported by Chinese and North Korean state media cited by the Associated Press.
It will be Xi’s first trip to North Korea since 2019. He is expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang.
China accounted for 20 percent of North Korea’s foreign trade last year, Digi24 reports, making the relationship important not only politically but economically.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said Xi would make the state visit “at the invitation of Kim Jong Un.” North Korea’s state news agency KCNA confirmed the trip but gave no further details.
Beijing wants to keep Pyongyang close
Chinese presidential visits to North Korea are rare. Xi’s 2019 trip was the first by a Chinese president since Hu Jintao visited in 2005, according to Digi24.
Reuters writes that this will also be Xi’s first overseas trip of the year. North Korea has expanded ties with Russia since the pandemic, including support for Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
That has given Beijing a reason to act. Analysts said China wants to show that it remains Pyongyang’s main partner, even as Kim builds a closer relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the two sides would use the visit to “promote greater development of China-North Korea relations in keeping with the times,” according to Reuters.
Nuclear plans may shape the talks
North Korea’s weapons program is likely to feature in the background of the meeting.
Shortly before the visit was announced, North Korean state media said Kim had toured a new nuclear-related facility. According to the Associated Press, he called for North Korea’s nuclear forces to grow at an “exponential rate.”
BBC reported that South Korea hopes Xi may encourage Pyongyang to restart talks with Seoul and Washington. That will not be simple. Kim has repeatedly rejected demands that North Korea abandon its nuclear arsenal.
China has long supported denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, but BBC noted that Beijing has become less direct in how it discusses that goal.
For Kim, Xi’s arrival shows that China remains a crucial partner. For Xi, the trip signals to Moscow, Seoul, and Washington that Beijing still has a direct line to Pyongyang.
Sources: Digi24, Reuters, Associated Press, BBC
