Kim Jong-un's China trip: North Korea leader DID secretly visit Beijing for talks in first foreign trip since becoming ruler

Tom Powell28 March 2018

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un did visit Beijing to meet with president Xi Jinping, China has confirmed after days of speculation.

In his first known trip to a foreign country since taking power in 2011, Mr Kim spent three nights in the city and held diplomatic talks.

Chinese media reported that Mr Kim was accompanied by his rarely-seen wife Ri Sol Ju at a banquet hosted by Mr Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan. The foursome also watched an art performance together.

It comes after TV footage of a heavily-guarded North Korean train arriving in Beijing sparked worldwide speculation about a visit by the North Korean leader.

Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol Ju meet Xi Jinping and, his wife Peng Liyuan
AFP/Getty Images

Analysts said Mr Kim would have felt a need to consult with North Korea’s only real ally ahead of his planned meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump.

"If South Korea and the United States respond with good will to our efforts and create an atmosphere of peace and stability, and take phased, synchronised measures to achieve peace, the issue of the denuclearisation of the peninsula can reach resolution,' Mr Kim said, according to Xinhua News Agency.

The leaders and their wives posed for photographs
REUTERS

The North's diplomatic outreach came after an unusually provocative year when it conducted its most powerful nuclear test to date and three ICBMs tests designed to target the US mainland.

China remains the chief provider of North Korea’s energy, aid and trade, helping to keep the country's broken economy afloat.

The visit to China marks Mr Kim's first known trip since taking power in 2011 and his reported meeting with Mr Xi was his first meeting with a foreign head of state.

Mr Kim's father, late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, visited China several times during his rule, lastly in May 2011, months before his death.

Past visits by Kim Jong Il to China were surrounded in secrecy, with Beijing only confirming his presence after he had crossed the border by train back into North Korea.

The White House says the Chinese government contacted them about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's visit.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the briefing included a "personal message from President Xi to President Trump", which was conveyed to the president. She did not say what that message entailed.

She stressed the US has been in close contact with South Korea and Japan and sees the development "as further evidence that our campaign of maximum pressure is creating the appropriate atmosphere for dialogue with North Korea".

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