Xi may visit Kim next week

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported on May 21 that Chinese President Xi Jinping may visit North Korea as early as next week, citing a senior government official and another government source. Reuters, citing Yonhap, said one source reported that Chinese security and protocol officials had recently been in Pyongyang and that a visit in late May or early June was likely. Chinese and North Korean state channels had not publicly confirmed such a trip as of Thursday. Xi last made a publicly known visit to Pyongyang in June 2019, when he met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un before a Group of 20 summit in Japan. A new trip would be his first publicly reported visit to North Korea since then. Reuters said Yonhap’s report came after Xi hosted U.S. President Donald Trump in Beijing last week. (usnews.com) ### Where did the report come from? Yonhap’s report, as carried by Reuters on May 21, relied on unnamed South Korean government sources rather than public statements from Beijing or Pyongyang. Reuters said the senior official told Yonhap Xi would try to act as a mediator between Trump and Kim. (usnews.com) The original social-media post cited in the prompt matched the timing of the Yonhap report, but the report itself appears to have moved through established news outlets including Reuters and Bloomberg on May 20-21. Bloomberg separately reported that Yonhap said there was a “high possibility” of a visit late this month or early next month. (usnews.com) ### Has either government confirmed it? China’s Foreign Ministry website showed no public announcement of a Xi visit to North Korea as of May 21. The ministry’s recent public postings included Xi’s meetings with Trump and other foreign leaders, and a separate April 8 notice that Foreign Minister Wang Yi would visit the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. (bloomberg.com) North Korea’s KCNA website also showed no public notice of an upcoming Xi trip in the material available on May 21. KCNA’s recent items focused on Kim’s domestic activities, a Vietnamese party envoy’s visit, and other state events. ### Why are officials watching this now? May 15 is the latest date visible on China’s Foreign Ministry site for Xi’s public meetings with Trump in Beijing, and Reuters said the Yonhap report followed that summit. (fmprc.gov.cn) Reuters also said Trump had expressed interest in meeting Kim again after the three meetings they held during Trump’s first term. (kcna.kp) Seoul’s presidential office said on May 21 that it was monitoring developments after reports of a possible Xi trip. The office said it hoped exchanges between North Korea and China would contribute to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and that it expected China to play a “constructive role” on peninsula issues. (usnews.com) ### What do the recent China-North Korea contacts show? April 8 is one concrete marker of renewed high-level contact: China’s Foreign Ministry posted that Wang Yi would visit the DPRK. North Korea’s KCNA also showed recent diplomatic activity involving Vietnam and references to Chinese-linked groups sending congratulatory messages, though not a Xi visit. Reuters described China as North Korea’s key economic and political ally and said the two sides had worked to reinforce ties that cooled during the COVID-19 pandemic. (koreajoongangdaily.joins.com) Reuters also noted that Kim visited Beijing last year and appeared alongside Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a major military parade. (fmprc.gov.cn) ### What should readers watch next? May 21 is the current cutoff for what is public: Yonhap, Reuters and Bloomberg reported a possible trip, while Beijing and Pyongyang had not announced one on official channels. The next clear signals would be a Chinese Foreign Ministry schedule item, a KCNA dispatch from Pyongyang, or a formal statement from South Korea’s government if the visit is confirmed. (usnews.com)