BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to North Korea next week, the two countries announced Friday, marking his first visit to the country in nearly seven years as Beijing moves to reinforce relations with its nuclear-armed neighbor.
The state visit, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, comes as China seeks to reaffirm its influence over Kim Jong Un’s government amid Pyongyang’s growing military cooperation with Russia, including its reported support for Moscow’s war efforts in Ukraine through the provision of troops and conventional weapons.
North Korea, meanwhile, has been working to strengthen ties with Beijing, its largest trading partner and a key source of economic support.
“As North Korea builds closer ties with Russia, China seeks to use Xi’s trip to reassert its influence over Pyongyang and safeguard its strategic interests in northeast Asia,” said William Yang, an analyst with the International Crisis Group.
Xi’s upcoming visit will be his first trip to North Korea since June 2019. The announcement follows a series of high-level diplomatic engagements in Beijing, where Xi recently hosted US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The visit also comes shortly after North Korea revealed a new facility linked to its nuclear weapons program. South Korean military officials have assessed the site as a uranium enrichment facility.
During a visit to the facility, Kim vowed to expand the country’s nuclear capabilities “at an exponential rate,” a move analysts say was intended to demonstrate Pyongyang’s determination to maintain its status as a nuclear weapons state ahead of Xi’s arrival.
Experts believe Kim’s long-term objective is to secure international recognition as a nuclear power and use that position to seek sanctions relief. They say Pyongyang may eventually pursue arms-control negotiations with Washington in exchange for limited concessions on its nuclear program.
North Korea has accelerated the expansion of its nuclear arsenal since diplomatic talks between Kim and Trump collapsed in 2019. While Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in restarting negotiations, Kim has insisted that Washington must first abandon its demand for complete denuclearization.
Xi and Kim met in Beijing in September, where they pledged stronger cooperation and mutual support. Kim visited China at the time to attend a military parade alongside foreign leaders, including Putin.
China and Russia, both permanent members of the UN Security Council with veto power, have previously opposed efforts led by the United States and its allies to increase sanctions pressure on North Korea over its banned nuclear and missile activities.
During a recent meeting in Beijing, Putin and Xi criticized “foreign policy isolation, economic sanctions, military pressure and other methods of creating threats to security” against North Korea, according to the Kremlin.
Amid rising global tensions and a push toward a multipolar world order, Kim has expanded diplomatic outreach to countries opposed to US influence.
Xi, who conducted frequent overseas visits during his early years in power, has significantly reduced international travel since the COVID-19 pandemic. His most recent foreign trip was to South Korea last year for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, where he held talks with Trump.
BY: The Times Union
