Chinese President to meet the Supreme commander of North Korea to improve relations
The President of People’s Republic of China – Xi Jinping will be on a 2-day State visit to North Korea from tomorrow, i.e. Thursday, June 20, 2019, where he would be meeting the Supreme Leader of North Korea – Kim Jong-un.
The visit is expected to infuse new impetus to the Sino-North Korea relations. Both the countries will also focus on giving the much-needed push to the stalled denuclearisation talks between North Korea and the United States (U.S.).
This would be a first visit by any Chinese President to North Korea in the past 14 years. The last visit by a Chinese President to North Korea was made by Hu Jintao in October 2005, which was termed as an official goodwill visit. Xi Jinping’s visit gains significance as it comes days ahead of G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan where Xi Jinping is expected to meet the President of U.S. – Donald Trump. Things turned positive when Donald Trump hinted at the possibility of another meeting with Kim after receiving a letter from Kim, which he mentioned as “a beautiful letter”.
Speaking at a Press Briefing Session, the Spokesman of the Foreign Ministry of China – Lu Kang said, “Regarding the progress on denuclearisation, as I said, the result of the Hanoi leaders’ meeting in February was indeed a little unexpected. But after that, everyone actually looks forward to the resumption of dialogue in a good direction.”
China is North Korea’s biggest international benefactor accounting for 90% of North Korean foreign trade. Exports from North Korea to China rose 87% in 2018 as compared to 2017. For the records, the relations between them turned sour when China voted in favour of the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC’s) resolution, condemning North Korea for conducting nuclear tests. These tests were conducted when Kim Jong-un came to power in 2011.
Kim Jong Un also removed several high-ranking diplomats who were believed to be close to China, including his uncle Jang Song Thaek. He then went ahead and ramped up North Korea’s testing and development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in open defiance of China’s wishes.
Kim Jong-un has visited China 4 times till date. During these meetings both countries have expressed willingness to work in collaboration in developing diplomatic ties. The Xi Jinping’s North Korea visit also marks the 70th anniversary of official diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
