China’s Xi to visit North Korea, 1st time since 2019

China’s President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to North Korea next week, Chinese state media reported.

The two-day visit starting Monday comes at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Xinhua News reported.

North Korean state media also confirmed the invitation and the trip.

The two last met in September when Kim attended a Chinese military parade in Beijing to mark 80th anniversary of China’s Victory Day.

Xi last visited Pyongyang in 2019 on his first state visit to North Korea since he took office in 2012.

Notably, the Chinese president’s visit comes after Xi hosted US President Donald Trump as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing last month.

It would also be Xi’s first overseas trip this year.

He also visited North Korea as China’s vice president in 2008 when Kim’s father Kim Jong Il was the country’s leader. The elder leader died in 2011.