The North Korean ruler, Kim Jong-un, arrived in China on Monday for a three-day visit at the invitation of President Xi Jinping. Kim’s visit, which state media said would last for three days, is his fourth summit with Xi. It comes amid reports of advanced negotiations for a second summit between the North Korean leader and the US president, Donald Trump.
Kim visited three times during 2017 to see the Chinese president after not meeting him for more than six years after his rise to power. None of the trips were announced in advance and the earliest indications of the first one – in March, before Kim had met either South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in or Trump – came when his private train was spotted in Beijing. On Monday the special North Korean train was again spotted entering China. The North Korean leader, his wife Ri Sol-ju and several senior officials were on board, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.
