Xi Jinping travels to North Korea to prevent Kim Jong-un from leaning towards Moscow
China tries to recover the space of influence that Russia has begun to occupy, especially as a result of the war in Ukraine
BeijingKim Jong-un has offered a warm and massive welcome to Xi Jinping in Pyongyang. On the stage of the grand parades, the large Kim Il-sung Square, a crowd with flags, flowers, and balloons greeted the arrival of the Chinese president and his wife on Monday morning. Banners with the slogan "Eternal friendship between North Korea and China" awaited the leader, who reviewed the North Korean honor guard with Kim Jong-un before being accompanied to the official guest residence.
Xi Jinping is making a two-day state visit to North Korea to revitalize relations, after a period of coolness and in view of Kim Jong-un's rapprochement with Putin. It is Xi Jinping's first trip to North Korea in seven years.
. The State visit takes place after to meet in Beijing with Donald Trump and Vladimir PutinKim Yo-jong, Kim's influential sister, made it clear in a message last Sunday, defending that the nuclear program was “an irreversible final conclusion that had to be carried out unconditionally.” And she dismissed Trump's pressure for denuclearization as an “anachronistic dream.”
Xi Jinping arrives in Pyongyang at a time when he has managed to position himself as a stabilizing actor at the center of the international stage as a stabilizing actor at the center of the international stage. The State visit takes place after meeting in Beijing with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin after meeting in Beijing with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
China and North Korea have been taking steps to re-establish their relations: Xi invited Kim Jong-un last September to the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Asia. At that time, Putin, Kim Jong-un and Xi Jinping showed great harmony and staged their alliance in an event that had practically no presence of Western leaders.
The military industry in the service of Russia
The rapprochement of the North Korean leader with Moscow worries Beijing, which has always been its main ally and trading partner. Kim Jong-un signed a mutual defense pact with Vladimir Putin in 2024 and has placed its military industry at Russia's service, to which it has sent about ten thousand soldiers. It is believed that about 2,300 North Korean soldiers have died in Ukraine. In return, Pyongyang would have received help to develop its military program.
Despite the rapprochement with Russia, China continues to be the main economic support for the North Korean regime. The country is subject to severe sanctions, and China accounts for 90% of its legal trade. Beijing provides food aid, consumer goods, and fertilizers. Last year, exports from the Asian giant to North Korea reached $2.3 billion, the highest level in the last six years. Since the beginning of the year, passenger train services between Beijing and Pyongyang have also been restored. However, tourism has not recovered, and now it is Russians who go on vacation to North Korea and occupy the resorts recently built on the beaches.
Xi, who is traveling accompanied by the head of Chinese diplomacy, Wang Yi, is making this visit before the 65th anniversary of the signing of the treaty of friendship and mutual assistance between China and North Korea. For now, it is the only defense agreement that China maintains with another country. With this trip, Xi Jinping intends to strengthen China's role as North Korea's main ally and economic partner.
