June 5, 2026
(FILES) This picture taken on September 4, 2025 and released from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on September 5, 2025 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (L) shaking hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. China’s leader Xi Jinping will visit North Korea next week, Chinese state media said on June 5, 2026. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP) / South Korea OUT / —EDITORS NOTE— RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY CREDIT “AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS” – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS / THIS PICTURE WAS MADE AVAILABLE BY A THIRD PARTY. AFP CAN NOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, LOCATION, DATE AND CONTENT OF THIS IMAGE — /
Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea next week, state media said Friday, his first trip abroad this year after hosting a series of leaders as Beijing asserts itself as a global diplomatic superpower.
State broadcaster CCTV said Xi would visit from June 8 to 9 at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, his first trip to Pyongyang in seven years.
Beijing is a vital source of political and economic support to North Korea, which is one of the most diplomatically isolated countries in the world and under heavy international sanctions.
