(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has paid a second visit to China in two months, meeting with President Xi Jinping ahead of highly anticipated talks between Kim and US President Donald Trump.
Kim met Xi in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian on Monday and Tuesday, according to China’s foreign ministry. The leaders met in person for the first time during a secret meeting in the Chinese capital of Beijing in late March, which was widely viewed as a sign of warming ties between the two fractious allies.
North Korean state media KCTV said Kim flew to Dalian on Monday on his private jet, where he was welcomed by high-profile Chinese officials including Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Xi held a welcome banquet for the North Korean leader and took a casual stroll with him along a beach, Chinese state media Xinhua reported.
Xi praised Kim for “promoting inter-Korean dialogue and easing tension,” with both leaders reiterating their commitment to denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.
But in a warning to the United States, Kim said he was willing to denuclearize “as long as relevant parties eliminate the hostile policy and security threats” against Pyongyang.
The talks come amid a flurry of diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula, including a landmark summit in late April between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
(CNN)
