China's Xi Jinping to make rare visit to North Korea

Here is the latest breaking news from around the world: China's Xi Jinping to make rare visit to North Korea58 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleKoh EweandJake Kwon ,Seoul correspondentPOOL / via Getty ImagesChinese President Xi Jinping is set to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his visitChina's leader Xi Jinping is visiting long-standing ally North Korea for the first time in nearly seven years, state media report. Xi will be in North Korea from 8-9 June at the invitation of his counterpart Kim Jong Un. Xi last visited Pyongyang in 2019.

The visit comes weeks after Xi received US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing - two countries that loom large over Pyongyang's foreign policy. China is a key economic and political partner of North Korea, which faces sweeping international sanctions as a result of its nuclear weapons programme and alleged human rights violations. Pyongyang views the US as its main political enemy, and Russia as a growing friend to whom Kim has pledged unwavering support.

The Details

Xi is wary of the burgeoning alliance between Kim and Putin, despite Beijing's close ties with both Pyongyang and Moscow. China and North Korea share a 1,400km-long border and are bound by a defence pact - the only one China has with any country. It guarantees mutual support if either is attacked.

This year marks the 65th anniversary of that treaty. Beijing has also long served as the main mediator between Kim's pariah regime and the rest of the world. Getty ImagesKim attended Xi's military parade in Beijing in September 2025 alongside Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

For Kim, the propaganda value of Xi's visit is self-evident. North Korea had improved his standing on the world stage after withstanding the pandemic and entering the war in Ukraine on the side of Russia. Kim has been proudly displaying his nuclear and missile arsenal.

What Experts Say

He has also been developing capital Pyongyang to visiting dignitaries. And he wants the world to know that it was all achieved without bending his knee to the US or engaging with the South. Pyongyang now has the leverage to demand a larger exchange with China.

It is widely expected that Kim will seek more trade over the land border and more Chinese tourists to fill its newly built beach and ski resorts. Seoul is hoping Xi will play a mediator in this trip, nudging Pyongyang to resume dialogue with both Seoul and Washington. Since Kim declared the end to reunification efforts with the South in December 2024, he had called South Koreans a sworn enemy and had cut all levels of communication with Seoul.

When the North Korean women's professional football team visited South Korea last month to face a South Korean football team, the freeze-out was in full display. The North Koreans barely acknowledged the South Korean public who showed up to welcomed them at the airport and the stadium. They coldly shook hands with the South Korean players before the match then followed with rough and aggressive play.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.