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Xi Jinping Begins Two-Day State Visit to North Korea Amid Nuclear Tensions
Xi landed Monday for his first trip to North Korea in nearly seven years. Kim Jong-un and his wife greeted the Chinese leader at the airport.
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Kr reported. It is his first trip to the North Korean capital in nearly seven years. Xi was invited by Kim Jong-un and traveled with his wife Peng Liyuan, Cai Qi, director of the general office of the Communist Party's central committee, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju met the Chinese delegation at the airport, where the two leaders shook hands and North Korean children presented bouquets. A red carpet was laid out and large national flags of both countries were displayed on the terminal building.
Xi later attended a welcome ceremony at Kim Il Sung Square, where the North Korean military gave a 21-gun salute and a band played the national anthems of both nations.
Accompanied by Kim, Xi inspected honor guards of Pyongyang's three armed services. The Chinese first couple was then taken to the Kumsusan State Guest House while North Korean residents lined the route and waved. Talks between the two leaders were scheduled for later on June 8.
Streets across Pyongyang displayed portraits of Xi and banners in Korean and Chinese marking the traditional friendship between the two countries. A train service carrying reporters from Dandong in China's Liaoning Province to Pyongyang resumed earlier in 2026. Xi last visited Pyongyang on June 20-21, 2019, his first state visit there since taking office in late 2012.
The leaders most recently met in September 2025 in Beijing during China's Victory Day celebrations, where they stood with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a military parade. Kim Jong-un has made five trips to Beijing to meet Xi since coming to power after the death of his father Kim Jong-il in December 2011.
The visit falls in the 65th anniversary year of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between North Korea and China.
Last month North Korean troops marched alongside Russian forces in Moscow's Victory Day parade. " Last week Kim Jong-un inspected a newly launched nuclear materials production facility, watched a naval destroyer's navigation test, and vowed to exponentially expand the country's nuclear arsenal while calling for a stronger nuclear deterrent.
