Third China trip - Kim Jong-un's "delicate balancing act"

Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Kim Jong-un's visit to China this time is aimed at reassuring Beijing that Pyongyang will not "neglect" China's interests as Donald Trump and the young leader enter an unprecedented diplomatic phase.

The move is part of a "delicate balancing act" by leader Kim Jong-un, who analysts say is seeking to pit US and Chinese interests against each other while maintaining good relations with Beijing - the economic benefactor and diplomatic guarantor of the Pyongyang regime.

North Korea always respects China

Both China and the United States hope to see the Korean Peninsula "clean" of nuclear weapons, but Beijing fears the price of Washington and Pyongyang's possible closer ties, which could become a threat to Beijing's economic and security interests in the region.

Although China was not present at the US-North Korea summit on June 12, Beijing's lending of a private plane to Kim Jong-un to Singapore is a sign that China still maintains a certain influence in this diplomatic game.

Kim Jong-un chose Beijing as the destination for his first overseas trip last March and decided to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping for the second time in a row (May 7-8) in the port city of Dalian.

According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), during his talks with Xi Jinping on June 19, Kim Jong-un thanked the host country for its "sincere and active assistance, contributing to the success" of the US-North Korea summit.

The fact that the North Korean leader was received with a solemn ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing showed that the China-North Korea strategic cooperative relationship has been consolidated and strengthened.

The two leaders of China and North Korea and their wives took a souvenir photo. Photo: AP

During his two-day visit to China from June 19-20, leader Kim Jong-un highly appreciated the "recently strengthened strategic cooperation" between Pyongyang and Beijing.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported: "Mr. Kim Jong-un expressed his determination and aspiration to further develop the close relations of friendship, solidarity and cooperation between the two parties and peoples of the DPRK and China."

Mr. Kim Jong-un also wanted more help (from China) for "the prospect of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" after the summit with Mr. Trump in Singapore on June 12.

The Chinese leader also pledged that Beijing would continue to play a constructive role in nuclear diplomacy on the Korean peninsula.

Trade Card

Neither country's official media mentioned that the two leaders discussed the prospect of easing UN sanctions that have severely hit the North Korean economy.

However, analysts had previously predicted that this issue would be part of the China-North Korea agenda this time.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un looks on as the honor guard arrives with President Xi Jinping. Photo: Getty

Shin Bum-cheol, a senior fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, said that Kim Jong-un and Xi Jinping had reached a consensus on the outcome of the recent US-North Korea summit in Singapore.

In an interview with AFP, expert Shin Bum-cheol said that for China, North Korea could be like "an important card", especially when Beijing is facing a potential trade war with the US.

"As for North Korea, it can absolutely show the world, and especially the US, that Beijing always has Pyongyang's support, no matter how bad North Korea-US relations get in the future."

According to Xinhua News Agency, Mr. Xi Jinping told Mr. Kim Jong-un: "We are very happy to see that North Korea has made an important decision to focus on economic development and this development will bring North Korea into a new era in history."

Regarding this issue, Yonhap news agency (South Korea) quoted informed sources as saying that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un began the second day of his visit to China with a tour of an agricultural science center in Beijing.

"Kim Jong-un appears to have visited the agricultural science center. This may reflect North Korea's growing interest in agricultural reform," the source stressed.

Kim Jong-un's visits to China. Photo: AFP

Previously, a group of North Korean officials led by Pak Thae-song, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, visited the center during a visit to China last May.

According to North Korean media, Mr. Pak Thae-song and North Korean Prime Minister Pak Pong-ju, who have deep expertise in science and economics, are the officials accompanying Mr. Kim Jong-un to Beijing this time./.