With China’s Xi in North Korea, Kim projects confidence and defiance

SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping to Pyongyang on Monday, feeling he is in a strong position with a strong ally in Russia, a nuclear arsenal and little apparent appetite for engaging with Washington.

For Mr. Xi, leader of the world’s second-largest economy, the two-day visit to China’s neighbor, the first in seven years, is part of an effort to bring Pyongyang back into his orbit.

Mr. Xi hosted Mr. Kim, among other leaders, in a massive military parade in Beijing last year, and the two countries have since resumed some passenger rail and air services.

This week’s summit will likely contrast with Mr. Xi’s first visit to the isolated state in 2019 — months after a failed meeting between Mr. Kim and U.S. President Donald J. Trump on North Korea’s denuclearization and sanctions relief.

XI’S VISIT ‘A BIG DEAL’ FOR THE NORTH AFTER THE ‘RETURN’
Since then, Mr. Kim has forged closer military and trade ties with Moscow, bolstered by sending troops to fight alongside Russia in the war in Ukraine, continued to build up his nuclear capabilities in defiance of United Nations sanctions and locked down the North Korean border to stop the flow of escapees.

North Korea has sought to deploy its forces on the eve of Mr. Xi’s arrival, announcing plans on Saturday to build a 10,000-ton naval destroyer and reaffirming its status as a nuclear-armed state on Sunday.

“Xi’s visit to Pyongyang is a big deal and the culmination of a good few years of ‘comeback’ for Kim,” said Andrew Gilholm, an analyst at consultancy Control Risks.

In 2019, Mr. Kim gave Mr. Xi a lavish reception that included thousands of people holding up signs depicting Mr. Xi’s face and the Chinese flag, as well as a performance of the song “I Love Thee, China.”

But relations between the two countries have sometimes been tense, particularly over North Korea’s nuclear program. Beijing has publicly opposed Pyongyang’s nuclear tests and called on the country to give up its nuclear weapons.

North Korea is wary of becoming too dependent on China, with which it shares a 1,400-kilometer (880-mile) border. Russian support should provide some balance.

“North Korea certainly benefits economically from what it is able to provide militarily to Russia,” said John Delury, a senior fellow at the Asia Society. “This actually puts North Korea in a position where it can feel more confident in increasing the volume of trade and investment with China.”

PUSH FOR TOURISM, RED LINE ON NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Any substantive outcome from the meeting will likely focus on economic cooperation, a regional diplomat said, as North Korea launches a five-year development plan that includes expanding tourism into a strong industry and building more housing.

North Korea closed its borders to foreign tourists in early 2020 by imposing some of the world’s strictest COVID-19 controls, cutting off a small but important source of hard currency.

Before the pandemic, Chinese tourists were the backbone of North Korea’s tourism industry, accounting for 90% of foreign tourists by some estimates. The first known leisure tourists allowed to return post-COVID were around 100 from the Russian Far East in February 2024, according to Russian provincial authorities and a Western tourist guide.

North Korea has managed to make economic progress, Singapore’s foreign minister said after his visit last month. He said Pyongyang appeared uninterested in engaging with the United States or South Korea.

North Korea has rejected reunification with South Korea, which had long been a goal of the two nations divided since the 1950-1953 Korean War. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, however, remains committed to dialogue and has asked Mr. Xi to help him in his efforts.

“In improving inter-Korean relations through the mediation of President Xi Jinping, we hope President Xi will play this kind of role,” said Moon Chung-in, a professor at Yonsei University in Seoul and national security adviser to a previous South Korean president.

Mr. Kim has drawn some red lines, notably on his nuclear program. In addition to Sunday’s announcement, he called Thursday for an “exponential” expansion of the country’s nuclear fleet. ‌arsenal.

Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said Mr. Kim would likely continue to increase his production of fissile materials, increase and deploy nuclear weapons and emphasize the legitimacy of strengthening Pyongyang’s nuclear deterrent.

“Kim is emboldened,” said Christopher Green, a Korea expert at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

“He feels able to publicly pursue a marked expansion of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal with a confidence that comes from knowing that as long as he doesn’t foment outright instability in the region, Beijing won’t try to stop him.” — Reuters