Chinese President Xi Jingping has welcomed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the first day of Kim’s two-day visit to Beijing, where he is expected to discuss the summit he held last week with U.S. President Donald Trump.
State-controlled television showed Xi hosting Kim at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People. Chinese state media announced Kim’s visit earlier in the day – breaking from the previous practice of withholding that information until after Kim left Beijing after his two previous visits this year.
Security was tight in the Chinese capital, including roads to the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, where senior Chinese officials meet with visiting leaders and where Kim stayed during a previous visit earlier this year.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters Beijing hopes Kim’s visit will strengthen bilateral communication on major issues to “promote regional peace and stability.”
Last week’s summit between Kim and Trump was the first of its kind between a North Korean leader and a U.S. president. The two leaders agreed that North Korea would work towards a complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. The U.S. announced said it would suspend U.S.-South Korean military exercises that have angered Pyongyang. Voice of America
