SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is in China, his first visit to the country in a year, the South Korean government announced Saturday.
Kim’s visit to China is his latest move in an increasingly assertive foreign policy as he seeks to align Pyongyang with Beijing and Moscow in a united front against the United States in what he describes as a “new Cold War.”
Kim appears to have arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong on Saturday after crossing a recently opened bridge linking the two countries, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles North Korea-related affairs. The ministry did not immediately provide further details.
Youn Kunyoung, a South Korean lawmaker and vice chairman of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee, who regularly receives briefings from Seoul’s intelligence agency, told The Associated Press that Kim met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, a senior economic official. Youn said he was first informed Friday by the National Intelligence Service of the possibility of a visit by Kim to China, but did not give specific details of what the agency said.
It was unclear how long Kim would stay. Youn said he had received additional intelligence that it was possible Kim would take a day trip and return to North Korea in the coming hours.
Experts said the opening of the new bridge over the Yalu River this month was a key symbol of strengthening ties between North Korea and China and reflected their intention to expand trade, as it is expected to allow 24-hour two-way traffic, including container shipments and heavy trucks.
North Korean state media did not immediately report on Kim’s visit and the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s press service did not respond to a request for confirmation.
Citing unnamed diplomatic sources, Japan’s Kyodo News reported on Saturday that Chinese authorities were imposing strict movement restrictions in parts of Dandong and that not all hotel rooms in those areas were available for booking. Japanese broadcaster TBS broadcast footage of what it said was likely Kim’s motorcade in Dandong, including a black limousine flying North Korean flags.
Kim has recently sought to strengthen ties with China, the North’s main traditional ally and economic lifeline, after years of prioritizing ties with Russia. He has sent thousands of troops and conventional weapons to support President Vladimir Putin’s efforts. war in Ukrainepossibly in exchange for military and economic assistance. Kim’s latest visit to China is the sixth since he came to power in late 2011, following the death of his father. The visit appears timed to highlight the strength of its ties with Beijing in the run-up to Oct. 25, the anniversary of China’s first major victory in the Korean War, days after Chinese troops crossed the Yalu River into North Korea in October 1950.
The war began with North Korea’s surprise attack on the South in June 1950, prompting a U.N.-led, U.S.-led coalition to intervene and repel the offensive. North Korea was supported primarily by Chinese forces, with help from the then-Soviet Union Air Force, before fighting ended in a 1953 armistice that left the peninsula technically at war.
The official North Korean Central News Agency said Friday that a delegation from China’s Ministry of Veterans Affairs had arrived in Pyongyang the day before, but did not say whether its visit was related to preparations for the war anniversary.
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Pyongyang in June to meet with Kim. During their summitXi expressed Beijing’s desire to expand bilateral cooperation in trade, agriculture, construction and technology, while Kim described ties with China as a top strategic priority.
Kim last visited Beijing in September 2025, when he met with Xi and attended a military parade alongside Putin and other foreign leaders.
Kim has maintained a hard line toward Seoul and has so far rejected a proposal from U.S. President Donald Trump to revive their diplomacy, which collapsed in 2019 during Trump’s first term. Kim’s government has called on Washington to abandon its “hostile policy” and drop its demands for the North’s denuclearization as a precondition for resuming negotiations.
South Korea’s intelligence agency told lawmakers last month that it sees a 50 percent chance of a meeting between Trump and Kim on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, summit to be held next month in Shenzhen, China.
__ AP video journalist Mayuko Ono contributed to this report from Tokyo.
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