North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in China on Saturday, South Korea’s government said, in a trip that puts Pyongyang’s ties with Beijing back in focus as it also deepens military cooperation with Moscow. Neither North Korean state media nor China’s Foreign Ministry immediately confirmed the visit.
Kim is believed to have crossed into the border city of Dandong over the newly opened New Yalu River Bridge. South Korean lawmaker Youn Kunyoung, vice chair of the National Assembly’s intelligence committee, told The Associated Press there were signs Kim had met Chinese Premier Li Qiang, adding that the visit could last just one day. Japanese media reported tightened security and traffic restrictions in Dandong ahead of his arrival.
The trip is Kim’s sixth to China since he took power in late 2011 and comes just before the October 25 anniversary of China’s entry into the Korean War. It follows Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Pyongyang in June, when the two sides agreed to expand cooperation in trade, agriculture, construction and technology.
North Korea has sent thousands of troops and weapons to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, and Kim portrays his alignment with Beijing and Moscow as a united front against the United States in a “new Cold War”. South Korean intelligence told lawmakers last month it saw a 50 percent chance of a meeting between Kim and US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of next month’s APEC summit in Shenzhen, China.
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