North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is in China, his first visit to the country in a year, South Korea’s government said Saturday.
Youn said he was first briefed by the National Intelligence Service on Friday on the possibility of a Kim visit to China, but did not give specific details about what the agency said. Kim’s visit to China is his latest move in an increasingly assertive foreign policy as he seeks to align Pyongyang with Beijing and Moscow in a united front against the United States under what he portrays as a “new Cold War. The ministry didn’t immediately provide other details. It wasn’t clear how long Kim would stay. Kim has maintained a hard line toward Seoul and has so far rebuffed a proposal from U.S. It’s his first visit in a year.
President Donald Trump to revive their diplomacy, which broke down in 2019 during Trump’s first term.
Kim appears to have arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong Saturday after crossing a newly opened bridge linking the two countries, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles affairs related to North Korea. Youn Kunyoung, a South Korean lawmaker and vice chairperson of the National Assembly’s intelligence committee, which receives regular intelligence briefings from Seoul’s spy agency, told The Associated Press there are indications that Kim has met Chinese Premier Li Qiang, a top economic official. Youn said he received additional intelligence that it was possible that Kim is on a one-day trip and may return to North Korea in the coming hours. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Friday that a delegation from China’s Ministry of Veterans Affairs arrived in Pyongyang the previous day, but didn’t say whether their visit was linked to preparations for the war anniversary. Kim’s government has called for Washington to abandon its “hostile policy” and drop demands for the North’s denuclearization as a precondition for renewed talks. Earlier reporting noted: Kim arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong Saturday after crossing the newly opened bridge, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles affairs related to North Korea and China’s official Xinhua News Agency. Earlier reporting noted: Kim said that his country “stands ready to work with China to carry forward their historical friendship and expand practical cooperation, thereby delivering tangible benefits to the peoples of both countries,” according to Xinhua.
