North Korea's Kim meets China's Xi following Trump summit

Chinese President Xi Jinping offered high praise to visiting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday, lauding the "positive" outcome of his historic summit with US President Donald Trump and promising unwavering friendship.

Meeting Kim on his third trip to China this year, and just a week after Kim met Trump in Singapore, Xi said China was willing to keep playing a positive role to promote the peace process on the Korean peninsula.

Kim's visit was the latest in a flurry of diplomatic contacts, and unlike during his previous two visits to China, the government announced his presence while he was in the country rather than waiting for him to leave.

Xi told Kim that he was very happy to see the "positive" outcome of his meeting with Trump, and the important consensus reached on denuclearisation and setting up a lasting peace mechanism, according to Chinese state television.

"No matter the changes in the international and regional situation, China's party and government's resolute position on being dedicated to consolidating and developing Sino-North Korea relations will not change," the report cited Xi as saying.

"The Chinese people's friendship for the North Korean people will not change, and China's support for socialist North Korea will not change," Xi added.

Kim told Xi he hoped to work with China and other parties to push the peace process, Chinese state television said.

While not formally billed as a state visit, China gave Kim most of the trappings of one, including a welcome ceremony with honour guard in Beijing's Great Hall of the People.

Xi greeted Kim warmly, in images carried on state television. The two men were accompanied by their wives.

Xi said he was pleased to see North Korea's decision to promote economic reforms, adding that China's own reform and opening up process had meant the Chinese people's eyes had been open to the world.

North Korean state media had not mentioned Kim's visit by early evening.

Trump agreed to work with Kim toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, committed to provide the North with security guarantees and pledged to end "war games" with South Korea, which North Korea and China have long seen as provocative.

South Korea and the Pentagon announced they would halt the annual Freedom Guardian military drill scheduled for August.

A Kim trip to China to discuss his summit with Trump had been widely anticipated in diplomatic circles. China is North Korea's most important diplomatic and economic backer but has been angered by its nuclear and missile tests.

South Korea's foreign ministry spokesman said South Korea and China shared the strategic goal of completely denuclearising the Korean peninsula.

"Our government hopes China will play a constructive role in resolving this problem," ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-deok told a regular briefing.

"We hope Chairman Kim Jong Un's visit will contribute to that."

TRT World spoke to journalist Patrick Fok for more on the visit.

In addition to discussing last week's Singapore summit, Kim is expected to ask China for help in easing economic sanctions in return for his pledge to denuclearise, according to Wang Dong, an international relations expert at Peking University.

"The Chinese and North Korean leaders are carrying out consultations on how to jointly move the Korean nuclear issue forward," Wang said.

Following the historic summit on June 12, China suggested the UN Security Council could consider easing the economic restrictions on its Cold War-era ally.

China may not have been at the table for the historic summit in Singapore but it retains strong influence behind the scenes, Wang said.

TRT World spoke to Graham Ong-Webb, a Research Fellow at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

'Differences ahead'

In a joint statement with Trump following the Singapore summit, Kim pledged to "work toward the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula."

Trump hailed this as a concession but critics said the stock phrase long used by Pyongyang stopped short of longstanding US demands for North Korea to give up its atomic arsenal in a "verifiable" and "irreversible" way.

It is now urgent for Xi and Kim to discuss how North Korea would work towards meeting US demands, said Beijing-based international relations commentator Hua Po. 

"There may be differences ahead between the DPRK and the US in regards to denuclearisation, because the US wants irreversible and verifiable denuclearisation. It may be difficult for Kim Jong-un to accept," Hua said. 

"Therefore, both China and the DPRK want to strengthen communication and form an overall strategy to deal with the United States going forward," Hua added.

In return for the denuclearisation pledge, Trump made the shock announcement that he would stop joint military drills with South Korea, long seen as a provocation by Pyongyang and Beijing.

Analysts saw this as a clear sign of Beijing's influence. 

Beijing has repeatedly called for a "suspension for suspension" approach where the North would stop its nuclear and missile tests in exchange for the US and South Korea halting military exercises.

Washington had previously rebuffed the proposal. But on Tuesday, the US and South Korean militaries confirmed they had called off a scheduled major joint exercise following Trump's order.

Trump had raised eyebrows by describing the exercises as "provocative" – a term used by the North.