Xi Jinping Makes First State Visit to North Korea in 7 Years...Focus on Checking Russia and Possible Nuclear Talks (Comprehensive)

President Xi Emphasizes "Traditional Friendship"
North Korea Declares "Irreversible Nuclear Status"

Yonhap News

Chinese President Xi Jinping has made a state visit to North Korea for the first time in seven years. The main focus of this visit is whether there will be any discussion on the denuclearization of North Korea’s nuclear program. However, North Korea has announced that it will exclude the nuclear issue from the agenda, raising concerns about the lack of tangible results from the very first day of President Xi’s trip.

President Xi Visits North Korea for the First Time Since 2019...Emphasizes Traditional Friendship

AP Yonhap News

On June 8, President Xi began a two-day state visit to North Korea. In a contribution published in Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers’ Party of Korea, President Xi stated, “No matter how times change or the international situation evolves, the traditional friendship between China and North Korea will always remain unbreakable,” and stressed the need to “jointly promote the multipolarization of a fair and orderly world and the universal benefits and inclusive economic globalization.”

This marks President Xi’s first visit to North Korea in seven years, since June 2019. Officially, the trip commemorates the 65th anniversary of the ‘Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between North Korea and China’ signed in 1961, and is also described as a return visit following North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s attendance at China’s Victory Day celebrations in September last year. However, experts expect that discussions on North Korea’s nuclear issue will take place during this visit. Previously, on May 17, the U.S. Department of State included in a fact sheet summarizing the U.S.-China summit that “the shared goal of denuclearizing North Korea was reaffirmed.”

Sidney Seiler, Senior Advisor for North Korea at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told Voice of America (VOA) in an interview, “Both North Korea and China are making efforts to present a normal appearance in their relationship, but there is underlying tension.” He pointed out, “From North Korea’s perspective, there is unease because President Xi recently indicated a willingness to cooperate on the denuclearization of North Korea during his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. From China’s side, the deepening ties between North Korea and Russia are a source of concern.”

North Korea Reiterates “Irreversible Nuclear Status”...Concerns Over Limited Outcomes From the Visit

Yonhap News Agency

However, North Korea has drawn a clear line by stating that there will be no concessions on the nuclear issue even before President Xi’s visit. On June 7, the day before President Xi’s arrival, Kim Yo Jong, Deputy Director of the Workers’ Party of Korea, issued a statement through Rodong Sinmun, strongly refuting the U.S. State Department’s position that China has agreed to North Korea’s complete denuclearization, calling it “a typical American lie and completely untrue.” She added, “We possess the most accurate information regarding the existence or nonexistence of such facts.”

There are growing observations that discussions related to North Korea’s nuclear program may not take place during this visit. The Guardian noted, “President Trump may have requested President Xi to deliver a message to North Korea regarding the nuclear issue during their summit, but it is uncertain whether President Xi will actually convey this. Since Kim Jong Un’s visit to China in September last year, China has refrained from mentioning denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in its official statements. China is unlikely to provoke North Korea, as this could drive Pyongyang to deepen its dependence on Russia.”

There are also predictions that the achievements of President Xi’s visit to North Korea may be limited to restoring ties that have shifted toward Russia and to protecting China’s core interests in North Korea. Ankit Panda, Senior Fellow and nuclear policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the BBC, “China aims to safeguard its interests in North Korea at a time when Pyongyang’s relations with Moscow are rapidly strengthening,” and added, “The closer North Korea and Russia become, the more China worries about its diminishing influence over North Korea.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.