Lee Min-hyung joined The Korea Times in 2014 and has worked as a journalist mainly in Korea’s finance, tech and automotive industry. He specializes in content creation, breaking news and in-depth analysis currently on transportation and mobility. You can reach him via mhlee@koreatimes.co.kr.
Xi asks Kim to resume US-NK denuke talks
In this image taken from a video footage run by China's CCTV, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, walk together on Xi's arrival at an airport in Pyongyang, Thursday afternoon. CCTV via AP
By Lee Min-hyung
By Kim Yoo-chul, Lee Min-hyung
President Xi Jinping asked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to resume his country's nuclear dialogue with the United States as China supports a process on finding a “political solution” in achieving denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported Thursday.
“The international community expects the United States and North Korea to restart a productive dialogue. In the past year, the peninsular issue has seen bright prospects for resolution through dialogue and won the recognition and expectations of the international community,” CCTV quoted Xi as saying during his summit with Kim.
It added that Xi said China would support the North Korean leader's leadership and guarantee stable security. “The situation on the peninsula concerns the peace and stability of the region,” Xi told Kim.
In response, Kim said the North had taken “lots of positive measures” over the past year; however, he complained that he hadn't received “active responses from the relevant party,” an apparent reference to the United States.
“North Korea would like to remain patient, but it hopes the relevant party will meet halfway with North Korea to explore resolution plans that accommodate each other's reasonable concerns,” Kim was quoted as saying.
Xi and Kim's summit was being held as both face their own challenges with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Xi's visit is the first by a Chinese leader to North Korea in 14 years, after relations between the Cold War-era allies deteriorated over the North's nuclear tests and Beijing's subsequent backing of United Nations sanctions. The last visit to North Korea by a Chinese leader was in 2005 when then-President Hu Jintao met with former North Korean leader the late Kim Jong-il.
The specific agenda of the summit had not been made public as of Thursday night, but it was widely expected that Xi would endorse North Korea's request for the United States to offer reciprocal initiatives for every step the North takes toward dismantling its nuclear program.
China's official Xinhua news agency reported that the Xi-Kim meeting was held in the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the embalmed bodies of North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il are displayed. Xi is the first foreign leader to be received at the palace.
Xi arrived at Sunan International Airport in the North's capital at around 11:40 a.m., and inspected an honor guard there. Kim and his wife Ri Sol-ju were present to welcome him and his wife Peng Liyuan, Xinhua said. Kim was also accompanied by a group of ranking North Korean officials, including Kim's younger sister Kim Yo-jong and Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho.
About 10,000 Pyongyang residents stood in tight formation, waving flowers to welcome the Chinese delegation. Then, the two leaders rode a convertible limousine on their way to the palace, Xinhua said.
“On both sides of the streets were huge crowds of people, a magnificent and unprecedented event,” CCTV said. After than the summit, Xi attended a welcoming banquet and watched a mass gymnastic performance. Today, Xi plans to visit the Friendship Tower, which commemorates Chinese troops who fought with North Koreans during the Korean War, according to sources.
Cheong Wa Dae said it hopes the Xi-Kim meeting will provide a “fresh impetus” to breaking an impasse in denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang.
At the summit, Xi and Kim discussed ways to strengthen economic ties, and the provision of aid, amid reports that Beijing would send hundreds of thousands of tons of rice to the impoverished North after the visit, political analysts in Seoul said. South Korea recently decided to send 50,000 tons via the U.N.'s food agency, the WFP.
Thae Yong-ho, a former North Korean diplomat who defected to the South, said Kim was likely to ask Xi to deliver his latest nuclear disarmament proposals to Trump during the Chinese leader's planned summit with the US president later this month in Osaka, Japan. Thae added Kim would utilize China's political influence during any possible denuclearization talks with Trump.
Since the failure of the Kim-Trump summit in Hanoi, talks between the United States and North Korea have been stalled. Since the beginning of the nuclear talks, Xi has outlined a plan for permanent stability in Northeast Asia, adding Beijing would play an active role in increasing communication and coordination with North Korea and other relevant parties in any negotiations.
On the first day of Xi's two-day visit to the North, Stephen Biegun, Washington's special representative for North Korea, expressed the need for the U.S. and the North to make concessions with each other.
“Both sides understand the need for a flexible approach,” Biegun said at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank, Wednesday. He also reiterated Washington's willingness to continue having talks with Pyongyang, saying that the door was “wide open” for negotiations with the North.