N Koreas Kim meets Xi ahead of 2nd summit with Trump
January 08, 2019 11:40
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, along with his wife Ri Sol Ju and a train of the ministerial delegation, has left for a four-day visit to China on an invitation by President Xi Jinping, local media reported on Tuesday. He will be spending his 35th birthday in talks with Xi, reports the South China Morning Post.
Yonhap reported that the North Korean leader was accompanied by his government and military officials, including Kim Yong-chol, a key nuclear negotiator with the US, and Ri Yong-ho and No Kwang-chol, the country's foreign and defence ministers.
This trip marks the fourth visit by the North Korean leader to China, amid talks of fixing a location for the second meeting between the former and United States President Donald Trump.
Last year, the North Korean leader paid three visits to China to meet President Xi before attending his first-ever summit with Trump in June in Singapore, where Kim promised to work towards the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula in exchange of securities and guarantees from the US.
However, North Korea has marked slow progress in the denuclearisation process while seeking relief from sanctions.
Kim's visit comes even as an official delegation headed by deputy US trade representative Jeffrey Gerrish came to China on Monday to strike a deal over the ongoing 'trade imbalance' between the two major world economies.
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