Xi and Kim pledge deeper cooperation between China and North Korea

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for deeper cooperation during a rare visit to Pyongyang to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The two sides should strengthen exchanges “in diplomacy, law enforcement, and the military”, Mr Xi said during a meeting with Mr Kim on Monday according to state media, while expressing China’s willingness to expand cooperation in a wide range of areas including trade, agriculture, construction and technology.

Mr Xi’s trip to Pyongyang is his first since 2019 and comes after he hosted a series of world leaders, including US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, in Beijing.

The Chinese president and his wife Peng Liyuan were warmly greeted at the airport by Mr Kim and his wife Ri Sol Ju in a lavish welcome ceremony complete with a red-carpet military salute and cheering crowds, according to Chinese state media.

The visit was designed to mark the 65th anniversary of China and North Korea’s friendship treaty with banners welcoming the Chinese leader and their “friendship and unity” as the two nations flags hung side by side.

Mr Xi said he was willing to work together to bring the two countries’ relations to “new heights” as the two-day visit got underway.

“No matter how the international situation changes… the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK will not change,” Mr Xi said in a readout released by Chinese state media.

Jenny Town, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center and director of 38 North, told ABC’s The World relations between the two nations have been at a “low period” since the pandemic.

“North Korea has really spent a lot of time cultivating the relationship with Russia and really prioritising that ahead of relations with China,” she said.

“It’s notable that this is the first overseas trip that Xi Jinping is taking this year.

“I think there’s a real push to restore those economic lifelines that would give China a bit more leverage and a bit more stake in North Korea’s foreign policy and in their strategic thinking.”

She said discussions between the two leaders would likely centre around shared foreign policy interests and regional affairs, including Taiwan and Japan’s remilitarising, but was likely to conclude “in the absence of real discussion” on North Korea’s nuclear program. 

North Korea’s commitment to its nuclear program has been a thorn in the relationship.

Ms Town said North Korea had made “massive advances” in recent years and the decision to reveal a new facility right before Mr Xi’s visit was a message.

“This is strong messaging from North Korea to remind the Chinese that this is not what they see as a negotiation point,” she said.

“The Chinese have been very careful not to talk about denuclearisation in recent months and while they still are not in favour of North Korea’s nuclear program, I think they’re very sensitive to that messaging and to that relationship.”

Beijing has said it wanted to see a denuclearised Korean peninsula, but North Korea has repeatedly declared its status as a nuclear state “irreversible”, particularly after Mr Kim and Mr Trump’s 2019 summit collapsed over Pyongyang’s weapons program and sanctions relief.

AFP/AP