Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

China’s Xi Intends to Visit North Korea Next Year, South Korea Says

China’s Xi Intends to Visit North Korea Next Year, South Korea Says

SEOUL - Chinese President Xi Jinping intends to visit North Korea next year after receiving an invite from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, South Korea said on Saturday, which would make Xi the first Chinese leader to do so since 2005.
Xi told South Korean president Moon Jae-in in a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit in Papua New Guinea that he would “make time” to visit North Korea next year.
Xi added that China would continue to play a constructive role in building peace on the Korean peninsula, Kim Eui-kyeom, spokesman for South Korea’s presidential office, said at a briefing after the meeting between Xi and Moon.
This comes at a time when negotiations between North Korea and the United States appear to have stalled over how to remove the Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons.
At an unprecedented summit in Singapore, U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim agreed in June to work toward denuclearization and peace on the Korean peninsula and establish new relations. But the agreement was short on specifics, and negotiations have made little headway since. Xi’s trip to North Korea would be the first by a Chinese president since his predecessor Hu Jintao’s visit in 2005.  (Reuters)