Seoul expects Chinese president to play 'constructive role' in peace on Korean Peninsula

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shake hands at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Sept. 4, 2025. Reuters-Yonhap

Seoul officials have expressed expectations that Chinese President Xi Jinping could play a mediator role in resolving Pyongyang's nuclear issues amid speculations that he would visit North Korea for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as early as next week.

A government official said that it obtained intelligence indicating that Xi will visit North Korea soon, according to a Yonhap News Agency report. The official was quoted as saying that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi traveled to the North Korean capital last month and that Chinese presidential security teams visited the country as well. Time magazine also reported Wednesday that “a state visit” will happen “perhaps as early as next week.”

Attention is focused on whether the trip, if made, will mark a turning point in the North Korean nuclear standoff.

Cheong Wa Dae said in a statement Thursday that it hopes that if Xi visits the North, the Chinese leader will play a “constructive role over on issues concerning the Korean Peninsula," implying that Xi’s visit to Pyongyang is near.

"The government hopes that exchanges between North Korea and China will take place in a way that contributes to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," the presidential office said.

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young also said that if the Chinese president visits Pyongyang, Xi and Kim will discuss the outcome of last week's U.S.-China summit. "A giant tectonic surrounding the Korean Peninsula is moving," he told reporters, adding he expects that China would play a mediator role for issues surrounding the Korean Peninsula.

The remarks also followed a series of back-to-back summits for Xi — a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump from May 13-15 and another with Russian President Vladimir Putin from Tuesday to Wednesday.

The U.S. fact sheet released following the Trump-Xi summit said the two leaders “confirmed their shared goal to denuclearize North Korea." Russia, meanwhile, released a statement right after Putin's summit with Xi, stating that the two sides “oppose foreign policy isolation, economic sanctions, coercive pressure, and other means of creating threats to the security of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea,” referring to North Korea as its official name.

Trump, during a phone call with President Lee Jae Myung after returning from China, discussed the North's nuclear programs and shared Xi's concerns on the North's nuclear issue, according to sources.

A North Korean soldier stands guard at his guard post inside North Korean territory, in this picture taken from Paju, South Korea, near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in this June 17, 2020. Reuters-Yonhap

Experts, however, said the talks on denuclearization between Xi and Kim, if they take place, will be limited amid China's weakening leverage over the North.

“It is highly unlikely that China will be able to place the nuclear issue at the top of the summit's agenda. Beijing has steadily lost leverage over Pyongyang since Kim took office, and North Korea is simply no longer listening to China. Talking about the nuclear issue would make the relations worse,” said Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.

“China is likely seeking a meeting with North Korea to proactively manage the bilateral relationship and its own interests amid shifting global dynamics. Beijing wants to secure its leverage over Pyongyang in advance, as the Trump administration could pivot its diplomatic focus back toward Pyongyang after the war with Iran ends.”

Koh Yu-hwan, professor emeritus of North Korean studies at Dongguk University, echoed this view.

"China' role could be limited. Pyongyang has already declared that denuclearization is off the table, having enshrined its nuclear status into both its constitution and laws. Therefore, it is unrealistic to expect any progress toward denuclearization simply because Beijing steps in," Koh said.

He added, however, that China may play a role in ending the war on the Korean Peninsula.

"The talks can be focusing on nuclear arms reduction or capping further tests based on the understanding that North Korea has nuclear capability. However, China could lead the talks alongside the U.S. — as the major combatants of the Korean War — to officially end the Korean War and address it in tandem with the North Korean nuclear issue."