Key facts
- Xi Jinping is visiting North Korea for the first time in nearly seven years.
- The summit provides Kim Jong Un a stage to showcase an assertive foreign policy.
- The meeting highlights deepening ties and shared strategic interests between China and North Korea.
- Kim Jong Un feels a position of strength with allies like Russia and a nuclear arsenal.
- Kim Yo Jong stated North Korea will not relinquish its nuclear status.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is undertaking his first visit to North Korea in nearly seven years, aiming to draw Pyongyang back into China's orbit. This rare summit offers North Korean leader Kim Jong Un an opportunity to present an increasingly assertive foreign policy on a global stage, feeling a position of strength with allies like Russia and a nuclear arsenal. The meeting is expected to highlight the deepening ties between the two nations and their shared strategic interests. Kim Yo Jong, a high-ranking North Korean official, reaffirmed the country's nuclear status, stating it would never be relinquished and that threats would not be tolerated, just a day before Xi's scheduled arrival.