Xi Jinping to visit N. Korea on Monday and Tuesday at Kim Jong-un's invitation, KCNA reports

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea on Monday and Tuesday at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, KCNA reported Friday.

The visit marks Xi's second trip to North Korea since Kim took power and the first in about seven years, since June 2019. The two leaders last met about nine months ago, when Kim traveled to Beijing in September last year to attend China's 80th anniversary commemoration of its World War II victory.

"At the invitation of Kim Jong-un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and president of the People's Republic of China, will pay a state visit to the DPRK on June 8 and 9," KCNA said.

Earlier, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Pyongyang on April 9 — his first visit in about seven years — a trip widely seen as groundwork for Xi's state visit.

The South Korean government said it would closely monitor developments. A Cheong Wa Dae official said Seoul "hopes exchanges between North Korea and China will contribute to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula" and expects Beijing "to continue playing a constructive role on Korean Peninsula issues." The official added that South Korea "is in close communication with China through diplomatic channels on matters related to the Korean Peninsula."

The Ministry of Unification said it was "paying close attention to President Xi's visit to North Korea," adding that Seoul's "Korean Peninsula peaceful coexistence policy supports dialogue and opposes confrontation." The ministry said it hoped the visit "will contribute to advancing peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula and, further, in Northeast Asia."

Through the visit, Xi and Kim are expected to reaffirm the China-North Korea friendship and expand cooperation, including in the economic sphere. This year marks the 65th anniversary of the Sino-North Korean Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. With Pyongyang deepening its ties with Moscow — including through the deployment of troops to Russia — analysts expect Xi to use the visit to publicly demonstrate China's influence over North Korea.

NK News, a specialist outlet on North Korea, reported — citing satellite imagery taken by Planet Labs in late March — that a large-scale accommodation facility had been built at the Kumsusan Guest House complex in Pyongyang, significantly expanding the site's capacity to host foreign dignitaries. The development has fueled speculation that Xi may arrive with a large delegation.

Analysts are also watching whether Xi will use the occasion to address Korean Peninsula peace, inter-Korean dialogue and North Korea-US dialogue. With no US-North Korea contact having taken place at last month's US-China summit and inter-Korean communication channels severed, some analysts say Xi could position himself as an intermediary.

However, given North Korea's continued hostile posture, many observers doubt Pyongyang will engage in talks with Washington anytime soon. A US readout from the US-China summit stated that the two sides confirmed their shared goal of denuclearization of North Korea, but at a separate China-Russia summit, Beijing made no mention of denuclearization and instead emphasized its opposition to sanctions against the North.