Chinese president Xi Jinping is expected to travel to North Korea as early as next week to meet leader Kim Jong-un, following a tightly sequenced round of high-profile summits in Beijing that included visits by US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin.The prospective trip would come days after Xi met Trump in Beijing on May 14–15 and welcomed Putin shortly afterward, underscoring Beijing’s growing diplomatic activity amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, citing government sources, that Xi could travel to Pyongyang next week or in early June, though no official confirmation has been issued.Asked about the report, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said he had “nothing to share” at present, while reiterating that China and North Korea were “good friends and close neighbours” who maintain regular exchanges.If the visit goes ahead, it would mark Xi’s first trip to North Korea since 2019 and his second overall as China’s leader. It would also follow a recent intensification of high-level contacts between Beijing and Pyongyang. Kim travelled to Beijing in September 2025 to attend commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, appearing alongside Xi at Tiananmen Square, while Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi visited Pyongyang last month.The timing has drawn close attention in Seoul, where officials have said they are monitoring developments and have expressed hope that China will play a constructive role in maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. That caution reflects growing uncertainty over Beijing’s evolving approach to Pyongyang, as China has increasingly avoided explicit commitments to denuclearisation in its official readouts.The possible trip would come as China and Russia continue to stress their strategic alignment, while Beijing also seeks to stabilise relations with the United States following Trump’s visit, which featured ceremonial events but produced few concrete breakthroughs.
