▲ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is on a state visit to North Korea, is holding a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang, according to the People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of China.
The People's Daily reported that President Xi and Chairman Kim were holding their summit at the Kumsusan Guest House in Pyongyang as of 6:05 p.m. today (June 8).
The two leaders are expected to use this summit to begin restoring bilateral relations, which had somewhat loosened due to North Korea's closer ties with Russia, and to discuss expanding economic cooperation as well as issues in Northeast Asia, including the Korean Peninsula.
In particular, as North Korea has declared that its "status as a nuclear-armed state is an absolute, non-negotiable red line," attention is focused on the level at which the North Korean nuclear issue will be discussed.
President Xi departed from Beijing this morning on a special plane with his wife, Peng Liyuan, and arrived at Pyongyang Airport around noon.
At the airport, they were greeted by Chairman Kim and his wife, Ri Sol-ju.
After attending a welcome ceremony at Kim Il-sung Square, they moved to the Kumsusan Guest House, which serves as both the lodging and the venue for the summit, along with the Kim couple.
This visit by President Xi marks his first trip to North Korea in seven years since 2019, and it is the first face-to-face meeting between the leaders of North Korea and China in nine months, following Chairman Kim's visit to Beijing last September to attend the 80th anniversary of China's Victory Day.
(Photo: Xinhua News Agency capture, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.