Kim Jong-un meets Xi in Beijing
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A motorcade believed to be carrying a North Korean delegation makes its way along Beijing's main east-west thoroughfare, Changan Avenue, in Beijing, China, Tuesday. / Yonhap
Kim-Xi summit bodes well for inter-Korea talks
By Lee Min-hyung
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
Chinese President Xi Jinping
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during a two-day visit to Beijing that started Monday, according to intelligence sources Tuesday.
This is the first time that Kim has taken an overseas trip and held a summit with a leader from another country since assuming power in 2011.
Kim took a train for his Beijing visit, but no detailed travel arrangements have been confirmed so far. The sources said that Kim met with the Chinese president and high-ranking officials from the Communist Party of China on the Beijing visit. The South Korean and Chinese governments have not released any official statements on the rare trip by the North Korean leader.
The visit comes at a critical time when the reclusive regime remains under growing diplomatic pressure amid heightened international sanctions imposed for the regime’s continuous nuclear and missile threats. With China also joining the global drive, relations between Beijing and Pyongyang had reached a low ebb.
The unexpected meeting between the two leaders also came a month before a planned inter-Korean summit. The North Korean leader has in recent months showed a strong willingness to improve ties with the South. On the back of the rare peace momentum on the Korean Peninsula, Kim also expanded the dialogue signal by offering to hold a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday that North Korea’s efforts to improve frayed ties with China bode well for the upcoming inter-Korean summit next month.
A train believed to be carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong-un leaves the Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, China, Tuesday / Reuters-Yonhap
On Monday, some news outlets showed footage of a North Korean train that arrived in Beijing. The train looked identical to the one that Kim Jong-il, the late father of Kim Jong-un, used when visiting China, before he passed away in 2011.
“We view the move as the regime’s attempt to enhance relations with China, and this is seen as a positive signal at a time when the North plans to hold a summit with South Korea and the United States,” an official from the presidential office told reporters.
The official said the government is paying special attention to all possibilities that could take place in Beijing.
The rare move from Pyongyang comes amid chilly relations with Beijing, after the latter joined international sanctions calling for the regime to stop its nuclear and missile threats for good.
For this reason, critics have said that North Korea may be seeking to extend its ongoing peace momentum into China. Starting this year, Pyongyang has ceased all nuclear and missile tests, with the North Korean leader showing a strong willingness to keep his peace momentum moving forward by promising to stop developing nuclear weapons and offering to hold dialogue with his South Korean and U.S. counterparts.
Chances are that the North Korean leader and his Chinese counterpart may have discussed details over ways to improve their deteriorated ties during the meeting.
On Tuesday morning, White House spokesman Raj Shah declined to confirm details on whether the North Korean leader was making a Beijing visit, only noting that the U.S.-driven international pressure on the regime has “brought the North to the dialogue table.”
Last month, Kim Jong-un offered President Moon Jae-in a summit in Pyongyang, on the sidelines of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Both sides agreed to hold their first-ever summit in the southern part of the demilitarized zone at the end of April.
Kim then extended the peace momentum to the U.S. by promising to take steps for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Kim plans to meet with Trump and hold a dialogue sometime in May. However, Trump remains firm that he will never compromise with Kim on the nuclear issue, and has pledged to take concrete and verifiable steps to make sure the North keeps its words after the planned summit.
Meanwhile, Cheong Wa Dae and South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they have not received any notifications over Kim’s Beijing visit from the Chinese government, and added things will not be the same for other countries _ including the U.S.