Xi Jinping to Visit North Korea June 8-9 at Kim Jong Un's Invitation

Chinese President Xi Jinping will make a state visit to North Korea from June 8th to 9th, according to multiple Chinese state media outlets. The visit is at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. This trip marks Xi's second state visit to the country, with the first occurring in June 2019. The two leaders have met six times previously. Their diplomatic engagement, which saw five summits in 2018 and 2019 during North Korea-U.S. denuclearization talks, resumed last year when Xi invited Kim to China's 80th anniversary military parade. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also visited Pyongyang in April, meeting with Kim Jong Un and expressing a desire to strengthen high-level exchanges and strategic communication. The upcoming visit comes amid heightened regional tensions, with U.S. magazine Time reporting last month, citing anonymous sources, that Xi's visit could be a response to Japan's push to revise its security documents. Time suggested that China and North Korea might seek to cooperate against what they perceive as Japan's growing militarism.