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 on Monday afternoon, the People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party, reported.
The People's Daily reported that Xi and Kim were holding their summit at the Kumsusan State Guesthouse in Pyongyang at around 5:05 p.m. local time (6:05 p.m. KST).
At the summit, the two leaders are expected to push forward with restoring bilateral ties, which had loosened somewhat amid North Korea's closer alignment with Russia, and to discuss expanding economic cooperation along with Northeast Asian issues, including matters on the Korean Peninsula. In particular, attention is focused on the extent to which the North Korean nuclear issue will be discussed, given that North Korea has stated that its "status as a nuclear weapons state is an absolutely irreversible red line."
Xi departed Beijing by his presidential aircraft in the morning with his wife, Peng Liyuan, and arrived at Pyongyang airport around noon. At the airport, he was welcomed by Kim and his wife, Ri Sol-ju. He then attended a welcoming ceremony at Kim Il-sung Square before moving with Kim and his wife to the Kumsusan State Guesthouse, which serves as his lodging and the venue for the summit.
Xi's visit to North Korea is his first in seven years since 2019, and the face-to-face meeting between the North Korean and Chinese leaders comes nine months after Kim visited Beijing last September to attend ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of China's Victory Day.
