Xi Jinping to Visit North Korea

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea next week at the invitation of the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, Chinese and North Korean state media reported on Friday.

The state visit will take place June 8-9, Xinhua said. KCNA carried a similar announcement, saying Xi will visit at the invitation of Kim. Neither outlet provided details on the agenda of the visit.

Xi last visited Pyongyang in 2019, while Kim was in Beijing last September – joining Russian President Vladimir Putin at a military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of Imperial Japan’s defeat in World War II.

The trip comes weeks after Xi hosted Putin and US President Donald Trump in Beijing in separate high-level meetings. Trump visited China May 14-15, while Putin was received in Beijing May 19-20. Both meetings featured similar formal welcomes in Beijing, but reflected different political relationships with Washington and Moscow.

During Putin’s visit, Moscow and Beijing signed more than 40 cooperation agreements in areas including trade, technology and media exchanges. Xi said China-Russia ties have reached “the highest level in history.” The two sides also agreed to extend a friendship treaty first signed in 2001.

The Trump summit lacked any formal, high-profile document-signing events. China reportedly agreed to purchase 200 Boeing aircraft and verbally pledged to buy billions of dollars in American soybeans and agricultural goods, but Chinese state media remained relatively quiet on formalizing major deals.

China and North Korea have maintained close party and state ties since the Korean War. Beijing remains Pyongyang’s main economic partner and has repeatedly called for dialogue on the Korean Peninsula, while opposing unilateral sanctions and military pressure.