Xi Jinping Visits Pyongyang as North Korea Announces Naval Destroyer and Calls for Sharp Nuclear Buildup

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Pyongyang on Monday for a two-day visit, his first to North Korea in seven years. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un welcomed the Chinese leader, who last visited in 2019. The visit follows a period of resumed passenger rail and air services between the two countries after Xi hosted Kim at a military parade in Beijing in 2025.

North Korea shares a 1,400-kilometer border with China. ” Relations have been strained at times over North Korea’s nuclear program, with Beijing publicly opposing nuclear tests and calling for Pyongyang to give up its weapons. North Korea has sought to project strength ahead of the summit.

On Saturday it announced plans for a 10,000-ton naval destroyer, and on Sunday it reaffirmed its status as a nuclear-armed state. Kim called for an “exponential” expansion of the country’s atomic arsenal on Thursday. “Having Xi visit Pyongyang is a big deal and the culmination of a good couple of ‘comeback’ years for Kim,” said Andrew Gilholm, an analyst at consultancy Control Risks.

North Korea shut its borders to foreign tourists in early 2020. Chinese tourists accounted for 90 percent of foreign visitors before the pandemic. About 100 leisure tourists from Russia’s Far East visited in February 2024, according to Russian provincial authorities and a Western tour guide.

Any substantive outcome is likely to focus on economic cooperation as North Korea begins a five-year development plan that includes expanding tourism and building more housing, a regional diplomat said. North Korea has rejected reunification with South Korea, divided since the 1950-1953 Korean War.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung remains keen on dialogue and has asked Xi to assist efforts on inter-Korean relations.