South Korea said on Tuesday it hopes a trip by Kim Jong-un to Beijing this week will act as a “stepping stone” for a second summit between the North Korean leader and Donald Trump, the US president.
Kim arrived in China by train on Tuesday, his 35th birthday, for a four-day visit and his fourth round of talks with Xi Jinping, the Chinese president.
His summit with Mr Xi has raised hopes of kickstarting the stalled US-North Korean diplomatic talks on nuclear disarmament since Kim’s first historic meeting with the US president in Singapore in June. It has also prompted speculation that a second summit between Kim and Mr Trump may be imminent
South Korean foreign ministry officials said they expected the “high-level exchanges” between Kim and Mr Xi to be “able to contribute to the complete denuclearisation and establishment of permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.”
Moon Jae-in, South Korea’s liberal president, favours a negotiated solution to the North Korean nuclear confrontations, and has driven the diplomatic efforts to bring North Korea and the US to the table.
On Tuesday, a long motorcade including motorcycle outriders reserved for state leaders left a Beijing station shortly after the arrival of an armoured train with blacked out windows along tracks lined by police and paramilitary troops.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim had arrived for the four-day visit with his wife Ri Sol Ju and top officials at Mr Xi’s invitation.
The two leaders met three times last year and Tuesday’s face-to-face talks precede a second proposed summit between Kim and Mr Trump.
Kim’s visit could signal that he is seeking Mr Xi’s views on the summit or reminding the US of North Korea’s historically strong ties with China.
The North Korean leader consulted closely with Mr Xi before and after the Singapore summit.
Kim is expected to stay at the highly secure Diaoyutai State Guest House in the capital’s west, with meetings held at the Great Hall of the People, the hulking seat of the legislature that sits next to Tiananmen Square.
With his visit to China, "Kim is eager to remind the Trump administration that he does have diplomatic and economic options besides what Washington and Seoul can offer," said Harry Kazianis of the Center for the National Interest in Washington.
The US should be "quite concerned" by any effort by Pyongyang to strengthen ties with Beijing, he added, as almost all North Korean trade flows through China and any improvement in relations would weaken the Trump administration’s "maximum pressure" strategy.
With US and Chinese officials meeting in Beijing to address a trade row that has roiled global markets, he said, "the timing could not be any better" for the Chinese side. "It shows Beijing clearly has a North Korea card to play if it sees fit."
In Seoul, South Korea’s spy agency was quoted as telling members of parliament that Kim may also discuss the issue of peace with the South during his trip, reported the Yonhap News Agency.
North and South Korea ended their 1950-53 war with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, and Kim has repeatedly pushed for one during negotiations on nuclear disarmament.
The South Korean National Intelligence Service told parliamentarians at a closed-door briefing that Kim may discuss ways to push for a treaty that involves China.
Intelligence officials also reported that Kim is expected to inspect industrial facilities in the southeastern Chinese city of Tianjin.
The spy agency believes that Kim has an interest in the electricity, tourism and construction sectors.
Kim would also be expected to raise the thorny issue of harsh US-led sanctions against his regime when he meets with Mr Xi on Tuesday.
In Singapore, the US and North Korea agreed to work towards the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula but did not specify how to do so. Talks between the two sides have now stalled over a disagreement about the meaning of denuclearisation.
Pyongyang has repeatedly demanded that Washington ease the sanctions before it moves forward with the nuclear disarmament process.
Earlier on Monday the South Korean newspaper Munhwa Ilbo reported that US State Department officials had recently met multiple times with North Korean counterparts in Hanoi and discussed planning a second summit between Mr Trump and Mr Kim, fuelling speculation that Vietnam could host the event.
The US State Department and White House declined to comment on the Munhwa Ilbo report.