Xi to visit North Korea June 8-9, first trip since 2019
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- Xi Jinping will make a state visit to North Korea on June 8-9 at Kim Jong Un's invitation, his first overseas trip of the year and first visit to North Korea since 2019, according to state news agency Xinhua and broadcaster CCTV.
- The visit comes weeks after Xi hosted both US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing in May, and as Kim has deepened ties with Moscow by sending troops and weapons to support Russia's war in Ukraine.
- Asia Society senior fellow John Delury said the visit's implicit message is that China remains 'the principal actor when it comes to North Korea,' adding that 'one of the audiences is Russia.'
- North Korean state media this week reported Kim's visit to a newly operational nuclear material production factory, where he called for an 'exponential' expansion of the country's atomic arsenal.
- Passenger train services between Beijing and Pyongyang resumed in March after a six-year pandemic suspension, and Air China has restarted flights, though bookings remain limited to business travellers and exchange students, with Chinese tourists still excluded.
- Since becoming China's top leader in 2012, Xi has visited North Korea once and South Korea twice; visiting both Koreas within a year would be a 'big win' for the peninsula, Delury said.
Why it matters: Xi's first North Korea trip since 2019 is a deliberate signal that Beijing intends to reclaim primacy over Pyongyang after Kim publicly aligned with Moscow on Ukraine. The timing—days after hosting Trump and Putin in Beijing—positions China to shape any renewed nuclear diplomacy and check the Kim-Russia partnership, with Delury noting Russia is one of the intended audiences.
