North Korean leader Kim Jong-un accompanied by his wife Ri Sol Ju has gone to China for the third time in three months. They were welcomed by the Chinese president Xi Jinping and his wife at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The timing of their visit is significant because it comes a week after the Singapore summit with President Donald Trump and a day after the United States confirmed cancellation of all “war games” with South Korea scheduled for August.
According to the Washington Post, President Xi is believed to have praised the outcome of the Singapore summit.
He feels that it is an important step and will pave the way for a political solution to the nuclear issue in the region.
Kim Jong-un is in a positive frame of mind
The trip of Kim Jong-un to Beijing to meet Xi Jinping highlights the importance of Beijing in the scheme of things and the power it wields over Pyongyang. Observers feel that the North Korean leader will not miss the opportunity to extract the maximum out of both the superpowers. Reports of the North Korean state media indicate that Kim and Xi have discussed denuclearization and relevant issues after the Singapore summit.
The third visit of Kim Jong-un to China will be a worry for Donald Trump. He had labeled the summit as a huge success but, the steps that are to be taken to ensure a nuclear-free region have not yet been defined.
The North has stopped its nuclear tests, and the United States has called a halt to its war games with South Korea, but the next steps are not clear. It is possible that China might relax some sanctions. However, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that relaxing of sanctions will be linked with denuclearization.
Moon Jae-in on the visit of Kim Jong-un to China
Kim Jong-un is an unpredictable leader and Moon Jae-in, president of South Korea, wants Pyongyang to outline its future plans as agreed in the summit. Fox News adds that the South Korean president wants to increase pressure on his North Korean counterpart. This is Kim’s third visit to China this year to meet Xi Jinping, and it reveals the strengthening of ties between them.
At the Singapore summit, Kim had agreed to work towards denuclearization in exchange for U.S. security guarantees. The United States and South Korea immediately decided to suspend their forthcoming joint military exercise. However, Pyongyang has yet to declare its plans of meeting its commitment.
North Korea wants to adopt a "phased and synchronous" approach to remove its nuclear weapons, and associated facilities and China apparently supports that stand. The United States, on the other hand, wants an instant, total and irreversible end to the nuclear programs of the hermit kingdom.
