Kim Jong Un has second surprise meeting with China

Chinese professor says Kim likely wants to shore up support

BEIJING — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in China this week for the second time in two months, reinforcing China’s central role in a recent whirlwind of diplomatic activity surrounding the Korean Peninsula.

The Kim-Xi meeting took place Monday and Tuesday in the Chinese port city of Dalian near the China-North Korea border, Chinese state media reported Tuesday. A meeting in Tokyo with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is scheduled in Tokyo later this week; the leaders plan to discuss North Korean denuclearization.

Kim told Xi he would like to discuss “phased and synchronous measures” with the U.S. to “eventually achieve denuclearization and lasting peace on the (Korean) Peninsula,” China’s state-run New China News Agency reported. A meeting between Kim and President Donald Trump — the first between a sitting U.S. president and North Korean leader — is planned for some time in the coming month.

“As long as relevant parties eliminate the hostile policy and security threats against North Korea, North Korea does not need to have nuclear weapons, and denuclearization is achievable,” Kim told Xi, according to the agency.

Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said Kim is likely eager to shore up Chinese support to improve his bargaining position in advance of the meetings. Xi, meanwhile, does not want to be left out of negotiations among North and South Korea, the U.S. and Japan.

“Trump has no reason to like this kind of event, which brings China and North Korea closer,” he said. “But I think his primary concern over North Korea isn’t Pyongyang’s relationship with Beijing — he wants … to force North Korea to accept complete denuclearization.”

Shi said North Korea is not likely to completely abandon its nuclear weapon program, and may attempt to wrest significant concessions from Trump in exchange for partial denuclearization.