Xi Jinping set to meet Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang in April, South Korean sources say
- Chinese leader’s first visit to North Korea as president may coincide with Day of the Sun holiday on April 15, sources say
- Talks expected to take place after Kim’s second summit with US President Donald Trump, which sources say will be in Vietnam
Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to make his first visit to North Korea in April, and the two sides are agreed on the matter, South Korean parliamentary sources told the South China Morning Post.
“Pyongyang and Beijing have reached a general consensus that Xi will visit Pyongyang in April,” said one of the sources, who has close ties to the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee in Seoul.
North Korea has issued repeated invitations for Xi to visit – including in September to attend its national day celebrations – but in the six years since he was elected president he has yet to accept.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said in October that Xi was expected to visit Pyongyang “soon”, and after Kim made his fourth visit to China this month, the timing might finally be right.
“Xi’s visit is more likely this year as it is the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between North Korea and China,” the source said.
The last Chinese president to visit Pyongyang was Xi’s predecessor, Hu Jintao, in 2005. Xi visited North Korea in 2008, but only as a vice-president.
The second parliamentary source said Xi’s visit may be timed to coincide with the Day of the Sun holiday on April 15, one of the most important dates on the North Korean calendar when people celebrate the birth of Kim Il-sung, the nation’s founding father.
