BEIJING (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was expected to meet Tuesday with China's president at the start of a visit to Beijing believed to be an effort to coordinate with his only major ally ahead of a possible second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
A train similar to one seen during previous visits by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrives at Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019. Kim is making a four-day trip to China, the North's state media reported Tuesday, in what's likely an effort by Kim to coordinate with his only major ally ahead of a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump that could happen early this year.
A stretch limousine with a golden emblem, similar to one North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has used previously, leaves a train station with a convoy in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is making a four-day trip to China, the North's state media reported Tuesday, in what's likely an effort by Kim to coordinate with his only major ally ahead of a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump that could happen early this year.
A stretch limousine with a golden emblem, similar to one North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has used previously, is seen leaving a train station with a convoy in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is making a four-day trip to China, the North's state media reported Tuesday, in what's likely an effort by Kim to coordinate with his only major ally ahead of a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump that could happen early this year.
A stretch limousine with a golden emblem, similar to one North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has used previously, is seen leaving the train station with a convoy in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is making a four-day trip to China, the North's state media reported Tuesday, in what's likely an effort by Kim to coordinate with his only major ally ahead of a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump that could happen early this year.
A train, at bottom center, similar to one seen during previous visits by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrives at Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019. Kim is making a four-day trip to China, the North's state media reported Tuesday, in what's likely an effort by Kim to coordinate with his only major ally ahead of a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump that could happen early this year.
A stretch limousine with a golden emblem, similar to one North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has used previously, is escorted by motorcades traveling towards Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019. Kim is making a four-day trip to China, the North's state media reported Tuesday, in what's likely an effort by Kim to coordinate with his only major ally ahead of a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump that could happen early this year.
Kim's trip, announced earlier by both sides, comes after U.S. and North Korean officials are thought to have met in Vietnam to discuss the site of a second summit. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang gave no details about Kim's schedule or China's role as an intermediary between the U.S. and North Korea. But he said Beijing remains supportive of efforts to end tensions over U.S. demands for a halt to North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.
He said further information about Kim's activities, the outcome of his meetings and a possible visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to North Korea would be "released in due course." A long motorcade thought to be carrying Kim, including motorcycle outriders reserved for state leaders, left a Beijing train station shortly after the arrival of an armored train consisting of 20 to 25 cars — most of whose windows were blacked-out — along tracks lined by police and paramilitary troops.
After years of cool relations following Kim's assumption of power 2011, ties have improved remarkably over the past year as Xi seeks to maintain his influence in the region. Kim's trip comes as the U.S. and North Korea look to settle the North's decades-long pursuit of a nuclear arsenal.
South Korean presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said Tuesday that Seoul hopes Kim's trip to China will act as a "stepping stone" for a second Trump-Kim summit. Trump has offered assurances that another summit will allow him and Kim to make a grand deal to settle the nuclear standoff and change a relationship marked by decades of animosity and mistrust.
Instead, Kim may be seeking to gauge China's attitude toward sanctions ahead of the talks, including what North Korea would have to concede in order to win Beijing's support at the U.N. China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, has agreed to several rounds of punishing economic sanctions against the North. However, Xi has called on the sides to "meet each other halfway," and China's foreign minister in September urged some form of sanctions relief in response to any positive outcomes from the first Kim-Trump summit.
North Korea has held off on additional nuclear weapons and missile tests for more than a year, possibly in response to China's displeasure, while carrying out its new diplomatic offensive. "The two leaders will further communicate over the issue of sanctions to further refine their previously general and vague attitudes," said Cheng Xiaohe, professor at Renmin University's School of International Studies in Beijing.
"It is impossible to see the cancellation of all sanctions, but what kind of sanctions can be canceled and what are China and North Korea's views on that will be discussed," Cheng said. Trump has pushed heavily for Chinese support in convincing North Korea to give up its weapons programs, suggesting that could win Beijing better terms in a trade deal with Washington.
Kim's arrival in Beijing coincides with U.S.-China trade talks in Beijing that seek to end the trade dispute between the world's two largest economies ahead of a March deadline. Asked whether China was linking the two issues in an interview Monday with CNBC, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, "The Chinese have been very clear to us that these are separate issues."
Lu echoed those sentiments in his response to a similar question, saying trade talks and the North Korean issues are "not the same thing." "Our positions on the trade talks are very consistent and clear and we don't need any other techniques to help the U.S. to get our message."