{"id":132134,"date":"2026-06-06T22:11:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T04:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/what-to-know-about-a-rare-visit-by-chinas-xi-to-north-korea-for-talks-with-kim-jong-un\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T22:11:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T04:11:33","slug":"what-to-know-about-a-rare-visit-by-chinas-xi-to-north-korea-for-talks-with-kim-jong-un","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/what-to-know-about-a-rare-visit-by-chinas-xi-to-north-korea-for-talks-with-kim-jong-un\/","title":{"rendered":"What to know about a rare visit by China’s Xi to North Korea for talks with Kim Jong Un"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FILE
FILE – Chinese President Xi Jinping walks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, to a reception following a military parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender held in front of Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo\/Mahesh Kumar, File)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Mahesh Kumar, File)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) \u2014 China’s Xi Jinping<\/a> is traveling to North Korea for the first time in nearly seven years in a trip that offers North Korean leader Kim Jong Un<\/a> a stage to showcase an increasingly assertive foreign policy anchored by closer ties with his country\u2019s former Cold War allies.<\/p>\n

China, the North\u2019s economic pipeline, is expected to reassert its influence over a traditionally allied government that has grown closer to Russia in recent times.<\/p>\n

The meeting between the two leaders is their first since Kim traveled to Beijing<\/a> for a World War II event in September 2025.<\/p>\n

Here is a look at what they may be seeking from their upcoming meeting:<\/p>\n

What Kim wants<\/strong><\/p>\n

After years of prioritizing Russia<\/a> \u2014 dispatching thousands of troops and munitions to support Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine \u2014 North Korea’s leader is now seeking stronger ties with China to break further out of isolation, embracing the idea of a \u201cnew Cold War\u201d and projecting Pyongyang as part of a united front against Washington.<\/p>\n

Since the era of its previous leaders, North Korea has long maintained an \u201cequidistance\u201d approach toward Beijing and Moscow, playing its two main benefactors against each other to maximize its gains.<\/p>\n

While he is receiving crucial support from Russia for backing its war effort, likely including military technologies and aid, Kim cannot fulfil his promise to improve the living standards of his populace without greater economic assistance from China, according to Koh Yu-hwan, a former president of Seoul\u2019s Institute of National Unification.<\/p>\n

\u201cNorth Korea vows to maintain a self-reliant economic system and focus on advancing its nuclear capabilities, but in reality it\u2019s nearly impossible to raise living standards by mobilizing internal resources alone,\u201d Koh said.<\/p>\n

The Kim-Xi meeting could include discussions on resuming Chinese tourism to North Korea<\/a> and opening a bridge over the Yalu River that has remained unused years after its completion, Koh said. The leaders could also discuss joint economic development projects in border regions shared by North Korea, China and Russia.<\/p>\n

It remains to be seen whether Kim at some point will use his increased diplomatic footing to reengage with Washington after his talks with U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019<\/a> over disagreements about sanctions on North Korea.<\/p>\n

Pyongyang has so far rebuffed Trump\u2019s offers to resume talks after the American president entered his second term, insisting that Washington first drop its demand for North Korea\u2019s denuclearization<\/a> as a precondition for negotiations. Kim also met Xi before traveling to Singapore and Vietnam for his summits with Trump in 2018 and 2019,<\/a> moves widely interpreted as efforts to bolster his bargaining position.<\/a> \u201cFrom North Korea\u2019s perspective, there\u2019s belief that having China\u2019s backing provides a sense of security and confidence when seeking to improve relations with the United States,\u201d said Park Won Gon, a professor at Seoul\u2019s Ewha University.<\/p>\n

What Xi wants <\/strong><\/p>\n

For China, the visit is a chance to bring back a traditional ally<\/a> closer into its orbit, by offering possible economic incentives and food aid, traditional assets it has given to North Korea.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the Chinese are privately a little uneasy at the embrace of Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin, that the North Koreans have really gravitated towards very heavily towards the Russians. Part of Xi Jinping\u2019s goal is to correct the balance,\u201d said Mike Chinoy, a former CNN journalist and author of an upcoming book about the insular country.<\/p>\n

Xi is making his first overseas trip in 2026 after become increasingly selective about making state visits since the pandemic. Coming on the heels of separately hosting both Trump<\/a> and Putin,<\/a> the choice is strategic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trip ensures no one can reshape the peninsula\u2019s security architecture without his concurrence,\u201d Seong-Hyon Lee, a senior fellow at the George H.W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations, said.<\/p>\n

Beijing is also realistic in response to Kim\u2019s clear nuclear ambitions.<\/p>\n

In April, China\u2019s Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Pyongyang and met with Kim.<\/a> Observers noted the absence of the word \u201cdenuclearization\u201d from the statement on the visit, a departure from the standard line that China usually deploys which calls for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most telling sign of the visit may be a silence: if China\u2019s official readout omits the word \u2018denuclearization,\u2019 Beijing has effectively accepted North Korea as a nuclear state, folding the issue into its broader buffer strategy against the U.S.,” said Lee.<\/p>\n

In exchange, China could seek greater access to the estuary of the Tumen River, which forms part of the border between the two countries, and navigational rights in waters off the Korean Peninsula\u2019s east coast.<\/p>\n

Ultimately Kim is likely to give Xi a grand and lavish welcome at the symbolic level, but China may not be able to extract much from an increasingly confident Kim,<\/a> experts say.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to give Xi Jinping a welcome befitting of the head of state of their giant neighbor, but he\u2019s not going to play the pliant \u2018little brother,\u2019\u201d said Chinoy. __ Wu reported from Bangkok.<\/p>\n

\"FILE
FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are seen on a screen as military personnel take part in a military parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender held in front of Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ng Han Guan, File)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Ng Han Guan, File)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"FILE
FILE – People watch a large screen showing an image of Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at Pyongyang Railway Station in Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, June 21, 2019. (AP Photo\/Jon Chol Jin, File)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Jon Chol Jin, File)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"FILE
FILE – Russian, left, and North Korea's servicemen attend the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Saturday, May 9, 2026, during celebrations of the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Maxim Shipenkov\/Pool Photo via AP, File)<\/span>(Maxim Shipenkov\/Pool Photo via AP, File)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"FILE
FILE – North Korea's servicemen attend the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Saturday, May 9, 2026, during celebrations of the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Maxim Shipenkov\/Pool Photo via AP, File)<\/span>(Maxim Shipenkov\/Pool Photo via AP, File)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

– Chinese President Xi Jinping walks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, to a reception following a military parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender held in front of Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo\/Mahesh Kumar, File)(AP Photo\/Mahesh Kumar, File) SEOUL, South Korea […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":132135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5734],"tags":[],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-132134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-associated-press"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132134"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=132134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}