Beijing and Pyongyang signal a return to a the sort of close relationship enjoyed under previous leaders.
After days of intense speculation, Chinese media confirmed on March 28 that Kim Jong-un had actually been in China for a three-day visit. It was Kim’s first overseas trip, and his first meeting with another top leader, since he took over as North Korea’s leader in December 2011.
According to a news release from Xinhua, Kim traveled to Beijing on March 25 along with his wife, Ri Sol-ju, and a delegation including United Front Department director Kim Yong-chol (who previously represented North Korea at the Closing Ceremony of the Winter Olympics in South Korea) and Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho. While the visit was described as “unofficial,” Beijing seems to have rolled out the red carpet for Kim and company. In addition to formal talks in the Great Hall of the People, Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan hosted Kim and Ri for a banquet and “art performance.” On the Chinese side, Premier Li Keqiang, Vice President Wang Qishan, and Politburo Standing Committee member Wang Huning also attended talks.
Most recently, China seemed to have been left out of the recent flurry of diplomacy between North and South Korea. With a summit between Kim and South Korea’s Moon Jae-in in the works for April, and even talk of a meeting between Kim and U. S. President Donald Trump in May, the absence of a Kim-Xi meeting had loomed large. After all, North Korea is still technically at war with both South Korea and the United States; what would it say about the vaunted China-North Korea relationship if Kim met Moon and Trump before Xi?
Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un’s father, visited China at least seven times: in 2000,2001,2004,2006, May and August of 2010, and 2011. Notably, the first inter-Korean summit, in June 2000, was directly preceded in May 2000 by Kim Jong-il’s first trip to China since assuming power.
