North Korea’s Kim makes another trip to China, complicating things for Trump

Kim Jung Un and Chinese president reach understanding on denuclearization, other issues

BEIJING – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is in China. Again.

Kim arrived on Tuesday for his third visit to China in the span of three months, meeting with President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in the heart of Beijing.

The visit comes a week after President Donald Trump met with Kim in Singapore and a day after the United States confirmed it will cancel what Trump called “war games” with South Korea scheduled for August. News of Kim’s trip came just hours after Trump threatened China with tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods.

On Tuesday evening, Kim and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, were welcomed by Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan. Photos from the event show Kim and Xi shaking hands in front of a row of Chinese and North Korean flags – a visual echo of Kim and Trump’s much–photographed handshake in Singapore.

Xi reportedly praised the outcome of the Singapore summit, calling it an “important step toward the political solution of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue,” according to the party-controlled press.

Today, North Korean state media said Kim and Xi reached an understanding on denuclearization and other issues following the Singapore summit. The report by the Korean Central News Agency did not give details on the views shared by the two leaders. But, in the past, North Korea defined denuclearization as including an end to the U.s.-south Korean military alliance and a shift in U.S. defense policies to end nuclear protection for South Korea and Japan.

During Kim’s previous trips outside the country, including the Singapore summit, North Korea’s state media waited until he returned home before reporting its version of the talks.

Although details are scarce, the timing and staging of Kim’s trip sends a clear message about Beijing’s place at the center of East Asian diplomacy – and its power over North Korea.

With U.s.-china trade ties on the rocks, Kim is well positioned to play both powers, talking sweet to Trump while pursuing a closer relationship with Xi.

“Although it seems there is a booming romance between Kim Jong Un and Trump, Kim understands the hierarchy. He knows that Xi is the Asian Godfather,” North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands during an unofficial North Korean visit to China in March.

said Yanmei Xie, a China policy analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics, an economic research firm in Beijing.

“He is making a pragmatic

calculation that China can provide economic assistance to integrate North Korea diplomatically and economically into Northeast Asia.”