Kim Jong-un pays surprise China visit, holds first summit with Xi Jinping

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping

Attempt to mend ties ahead of S. Korea and US summits; first overseas visit in seven years since coming to power

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un paid a recent surprise visit to China and held his first summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

An investigation by the Hankyoreh confirmed that Kim was the unidentified “top-level North Korean figure” who visited China on Mar. 25–27. With this visit, Kim chose China as his first overseas stop in the seven years since he came to power as North Korean leader in 2011. The visit sent a strong signal that Pyongyang is mending ties with its traditional allies in Beijing ahead of anticipated inter-Korean and North Korea-US summits in the coming months.

Kim met with members of the Chinese Communist Party leadership, including his summit with Xi on the evening of Mar. 26, sources reported.

“Chairman Kim arrived in Beijing on Mar. 26 and attended talks and a banquet that evening, staying in Room 18 of the Diaoyutai [State Guesthouse] before leaving the next afternoon,” a prominent Chinese international relations expert said on Mar. 27. Kim is reported to have coordinated opinions with Xi on issues related the inter-Korean and North Korea-US summit agendas, including denuclearization and establishment of a peace regime.

Kim arrived in China on the evening of Mar. 25, traveling by private train through the North Korea-China border city of Sinuiju and Dandong Station in China’s Liaoning Province. Images shown by Japanese broadcasters and circulated on social media showed the train arriving at Beijing Station and the visiting delegation transferring to around ten black passenger cars, which traveled through central Beijing with a motorcycle escort. Room 18 of the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, where Kim is reported to have stayed, is the same room used by Kim’s father, former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, while visiting Beijing.

Some are speculating Kim may have been traveling with his wife Ri Sol-ju and his younger sister, Workers’ Party first vice director Kim Yo-jong. On Mar. 27, the motorcade was observed in Zhongguancun, a university and IT company center in Beijing, and at the tourist destination Tiantan Park. Taiwan’s Eastern Broadcasting reported that Kim Jong-un visited Zhongguancun, while Ri and Kim Yo-jong visited Tiantan Park. After finishing his Beijing visit at around 3 pm that day, Kim Jong-un boarded the private train en route to a third location.

A car believed to be carrying a top-level North Korean figure was photographed traveling on a central Beijing road on Mar. 27. The foreign press reported the arrival of a visiting train at Beijing Station that afternoon believed to be carrying members of a top-level delegation from North Korea. With both North Korea and China declining to confirm a top-level China visit, the identity of the passenger remains unknown. Reuters/Yonhap News

It was not confirmed whether Kim returned immediately to North Korea. South Korean intelligence officials reportedly tracked and analyzed the private train’s movements after it crossed the Chinese border.

Kim’s surprise visit to China is a signal that ties between the two sides are rapidly on the mend after hitting at an all-time low in the wake of North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests and China’s sanctions in response. But some analysts are suggesting it may not have been a surprise “variable,” but a measure planned by Kim when proposing the inter-Korean and North Korea-US summits with an eye toward restoring relations with Beijing.

“Traditionally, North Korea has much experience with improving its bargaining strength. In that sense, it is highly significant that it is mending relations with China ahead of its relations with the US,” said Inje University professor Kim Yeon-cheol.

“We should pay attention to North Korea’s [past] diplomatic approach. The important thing is that North Korea has not tilted toward any one side,” he added.

The analysis suggests that while the China visit may have the effect of improving Pyongyang’s bargaining ability with the US ahead of the two sides’ summit, it was not an abrupt measure in response to recent activities in the US, including the nomination of North Korea hawk John Bolton as White House National Security Advisor.

Beijing/By Kim Oi-hyun, Beijing correspondent, and Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter