Kim Jong-un Visits China via New Border Bridge — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Kim Jong-un arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong on Saturday, crossing the newly inaugurated New Yalu River Bridge, according to South Korea's unification ministry and China's Xinhua news agency.
- Kim Jong-un met with Wang Huning, a senior Chinese Communist Party official, toured a car factory, and stated North Korea's readiness to 'carry forward their historical friendship and expand practical cooperation' with China.
- The visit appears timed to underscore ties ahead of the October 25th anniversary of China's first major victory in the Korean War, which involved Chinese troops crossing the Yalu River into North Korea in 1950.
- The 3km New Yalu River Bridge opened in mid-October after a 12-year delay caused by North Korean-side holdups, following the recent opening of North Korea's first road bridge with Russia in early September.
- Kim Jong-un's trip is his sixth to China and his first since September 2025, when he attended a military parade in Beijing with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin; Xi visited Pyongyang in June.
- Relations with South Korea have deteriorated, with Kim's sister issuing about 10 critical statements since late September and announcing plans to resume loudspeaker broadcasts at the border.
Why it matters: The visit reinforces North Korea's critical economic and diplomatic lifeline to China just as Pyongyang completes new physical links to both of its major backers. This strengthens Kim's position ahead of potential regional summits while relations with Seoul worsen, directly impacting the security calculus for South Korea and the United States.
Ask SkimNews
