North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has secretly met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, it was announced early Tuesday morning by Chinese state media.
Breaking: Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un met again in Dalian, Liaoning province. pic.twitter.com/Bamb0LFao7
— Keith Zhai (@QiZHAI) May 8, 2018
The meeting had not been known to the public ahead of it taking place.
Kim Jong Un meets secretly in China with Xi Jinping ahead of nuke talks with US https://t.co/TWiQy1ISgB pic.twitter.com/IYbMnqjqbf
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 8, 2018
The two leaders apparently discussed their countries’ relations, according to reports.
Kim Jong Un flies to Dalian, China to meet w/ President Xi Jinping, according to Chinese & North Korean media. The leaders held talks & “an all-round & in-depth exchange of views on China-DPRK relations. Xi welcomed Kim with a banquet & they also took a stroll. (Pics @chadocl) pic.twitter.com/Rn9uSD7qbo
— Will Ripley (@willripleyCNN) May 8, 2018
President Trump is slated to meet with Kim sometime this month to discuss denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, although the date and location of the meeting has yet to be announced.
Huge news. Kim Jong Un has spent the last two days in China with Xi Jinping, per Chinese state media. It’s the second such meeting since March. Story airing now on evening news here pic.twitter.com/3a449mYcSR
— Matt Rivers (@MattRiversCNN) May 8, 2018
Trump tweeted on Tuesday morning that he would be having a call with President Xi, as well.
“I will be speaking to my friend, President Xi of China, this morning at 8:30. The primary topics will be Trade, where good things will happen, and North Korea, where relationships and trust are building,” he tweeted.
I will be speaking to my friend, President Xi of China, this morning at 8:30. The primary topics will be Trade, where good things will happen, and North Korea, where relationships and trust are building.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2018
Kim recently said he would abandon his country’s nuclear weapons if the United States agrees to end the Korean War and promises not to invade, a South Korean official said after the historic North-South summit last month.
North Korea would also invite journalists and experts from the U.S. and South Korea to observe when North Korea shuts down its nuclear test site sometime in May, the South Korean official said.
After their meeting, the leaders of North and South Korea signed an agreement to officially end the Korean War after 65 years, which will be declared later this year, and to work to denuclearize and establish a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.
Kim and Moon met in the Demilitarized Zone, in the border village of Panmunjom, and signed the “Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification on the Korean Peninsula.”
The meeting rightfully garnered global attention, and it was the first time a sitting North Korean leader had stepped foot in South Korean territory since the Korean War began. The Korean military conflict technically lasted from 1950 to 1953 but was ended with a truce, not a peace treaty.
While there are talks of peace, tensions with North Korea still exist, as Kim recently said that President Trump and his administration are deliberately provoking Pyongyang, and that potential peace talks don’t mean North Korea is showing signs of weakness.
“It would not be conducive to addressing the issue if the U.S. miscalculates the peace-loving intention of the DPRK (North Korea) as a sign of ‘weakness’ and continues to pursue its pressure and military threats,” a North Korean spokesman told the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
