Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrive for a reception marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Sept. 3, 2025. [REUTERS/YONHAP]
Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to travel to Pyongyang as early as next week to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the latest in a tight sequence of summits running through Beijing that has unsettled not only Seoul but possibly also Washington.
The trip would follow Xi's meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump in Beijing on May 14 and May 15 and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. If a Xi-Kim meeting materializes, it may even amount to a Beijing-anchored realignment that risks entrenching a Cold War-style confrontation: South Korea, the United States and Japan on one side, North Korea, China and Russia on the other.
The South Korean government has publicly hoped China will play a constructive role on the North Korean nuclear issue, but the rapid-fire summits are stoking concerns inside the Lee Jae Myung administration that the dynamic is moving in the opposite direction.
“We are closely watching developments and hope that exchanges between North Korea and China will contribute to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula,” the Blue House said in a statement on Thursday.
U.S. magazine Time reported the previous day, citing sources, that Xi could make a state visit to North Korea early next week.
Officials within the Korean government also see Xi's trip as increasingly likely, citing the recent pace of high-level North Korea-China exchanges. Kim traveled to Beijing in September 2025 to attend China's 80th anniversary commemoration of victory in World War II, where he stood alongside Xi atop the Tiananmen rostrum — a moment that left many observers viewing a reciprocal visit by Xi as a matter of when, not if.
Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui visited China later that month, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi traveled to Pyongyang last month and met Kim. The exchanges likely set the stage for diplomatic coordination on agendas and schedules.
“There are also widespread rumors that Chinese working-level officials recently visited North Korea,” said a source who requested anonymity.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shake hands at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Sept. 4, 2025. [REUTERS/YONHAP]
A missed visit, revived
Xi had an opportunity to make a return visit last year when North Korea held a major celebration in October 2025 to mark the 80th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party. However, instead of going himself, Xi sent Premier Li Qiang. Around the same time, Xi traveled to Gyeongju in South Korea to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit — a sequence that appeared to draw a deliberate distinction between Seoul and Pyongyang.
If Xi does travel to North Korea soon, the timing suggests Beijing has concluded this is the optimal moment to pull Pyongyang closer. The recent U.S.-China summit made it clearer that Xi is seeking to position himself on equal standing with Washington. Rallying his bloc may be especially advantageous now, as U.S. global leadership wobbles amid the war in Iran.
“The 'constructive relationship of strategic stability' that the U.S. and Chinese leaders agreed on ultimately means China intends to compete with the U.S. over the long term within a certain framework,” said Park Won-gon, professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University.
“To do that, the first priority is stabilizing relations with traditional allies in the neighborhood and tightening their own camp.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping visit an exhibition by TASS and Xinhua news agencies at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 20. [AP/YONHAP]
Beijing-Moscow alignment
Xi met with Putin on Wednesday, just five days after Trump left Beijing. Putin had arrived at the airport the previous day, where Wang Yi greeted him in person — a gesture seen as elevating the reception.
Han Zheng, the Chinese vice president who had received Trump, holds the formal No. 8 ranking in the country but is widely viewed as having limited real authority, while Wang has been Xi's top diplomatic hand throughout his decade-plus tenure. Wang was also the one who greeted Kim when he arrived in Beijing by train in September 2025.
The joint statement from the China-Russia summit sharpened the message. The two sides expressed agreement that “the U.S. and Israeli military attacks on Iran violate international law and the basic norms of international relations,” directly targeting Washington. The statement also said that “certain countries cling to hegemonism while adhering to neocolonial thinking.”
It went further by taking aim at the Korea-U.S. alliance and NATO: “We strongly urge the prompt abolition of agreements between nuclear-weapon states and nonnuclear allies — such as 'nuclear sharing' and 'extended deterrence' — that undermine stability.”
On the Korean Peninsula, the statement avoided the word “denuclearization.” It said the two sides “oppose threatening security through diplomatic isolation, economic sanctions and military pressure on North Korea.”
It also called on the two sides to “halt the escalation of regional tensions, the stoking of arms races and the abuse of political means, and take practical measures to eliminate the risk of war breaking out on the Korean Peninsula” — the first time the phrase “risk of war breaking out” has appeared in such a joint statement.
Visiting South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, left, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping prior to their bilateral meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Jan. 5. [AP/YONHAP]
Concerns over Korea's role
Experts see Xi's potential trip to Pyongyang as oriented less toward drawing North Korea into denuclearization and more toward keeping it within Beijing's orbit as leverage in the U.S.-China competition. That differs from what the Korean government has hoped for — Beijing playing what the Blue House termed a “constructive role on Korean Peninsula issues.”
The U.S.-China summit was followed by Trump separately phoning President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to share the outcome. Lee and Takaichi then held their own summit in Andong on Tuesday, in what amounted to a tightening of Korea-U.S.-Japan security cooperation.
“North Korea's potential direct dialogue with the U.S. could shrink China's influence, and this trip is calculated to head that off and keep North Korea firmly managed,” said Kang Joon-young, professor of Chinese studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.
“From China's perspective, as long as North Korea stays under its control, the North is extremely useful leverage against South Korea, the U.S. and Japan. There's no reason to provoke Pyongyang by pressing it on denuclearization.”
“Xi likely also intends to personally explain to Kim [about] the references to 'North Korean denuclearization' that came up at the U.S.-China summit,” added Kang.
The White House fact sheet released on Sunday framed the shared goal as the “denuclearization of North Korea” — wording that places the focus on dismantling the North's nuclear program more pointedly than the “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” formula. North Korea has bristled at even the word “denuclearization” for years, suggesting Xi may travel to Pyongyang in part to smooth things over with Kim directly.
Some have voiced concern that South Korea is being sidelined on North Korea-related issues.
A South Korean Foreign Ministry official pushed back on that reading: “Just before the U.S.-China summit, Korea provided the venue for the trade talks between the two countries. Both Washington and Beijing have evaluated that very positively, and we continue to maintain close communication with each side.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un applaud from Tiananmen Gate as they attend a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Sept. 3, 2025. [AP/YONHAP]
Economic stakes for Pyongyang
North Korea and China's interests also align on the economic front, as North's chronic economic distress has made Chinese support critical. Although Pyongyang has gained a new patron in Russia, the recent surge in North Korean prices and exchange rates has laid bare the fact that Russian support alone is not enough to break out of the economic crisis.
North Korea-China trade reached about $326 million in April, the highest monthly figure since November 2017, when sanctions began tightening in earnest, per Chinese customs data. China has long used the opening and closing of sanctions-evading “back doors” as a tool to manage North Korea, and some observers say Beijing has loosened the latch further as a preparatory step ahead of Xi's visit.
“Xi traveling to Pyongyang would itself be a major political gift that bolsters Kim's authority at home and abroad, and a decisive turning point in repairing the relationship,” Park said.
“Within the bounds of UN sanctions, things like resuming large-scale tourist flows that were cut off during the Covid-19 pandemic could follow, and that would give the North Korean economy real breathing space.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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