NK leader's meeting with China's top legislator raises Kim

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, shakes hands with China’s Chairman of the National People’s Congress Zhao Leji during their meeting in Pyongyang, Saturday. Yonhap

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s last week meeting with China's No. 3 official Zhao Leji in Pyongyang suggests deepening bilateral relations, analysts said Sunday, raising speculation that Kim might be preparing for a potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year.

On Saturday, Kim met with Zhao, China’s top legislator who led a delegation of senior officials to North Korea for a three-day trip as this year marks the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.

“Zhao’s visit to Pyongyang holds a significance in demonstrating the invincibility of the DPRK-China friendship and further developing the traditional friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries as required by the times,” Kim was quoted as saying by the North’s state-run mouthpiece Korean Central News Agency, Saturday. The DPRK stands for the official name of North Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Kim’s meeting with Zhao has raised the possibility that discussions regarding Kim’s potential visit to China are underway. Kim and Xi have not met since the latter last visited Pyongyang in 2019.

China's Zhao Leji speaks during the opening ceremony for the North Korea-China Friendship Year at the Pyongyang Grand Theatre in Pyongyang, Friday. Yonhap

Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said Zhao’s visit is not only a symbol of friendship and strengthening diplomatic relations but also reiterating their solidarity against the U.S. influence in the region.

“Zhao is the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Pyongyang since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020,” Hong said. “There could be a potential meeting between Kim and Xi following the latter’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in May and after Putin’s visit to North Korea.”

Putin, who met with Kim in Russia last year, is highly anticipated to make a reciprocal visit to North Korea this year amid growing military cooperation between the two countries.

Hong added that Pyongyang and Beijing are ready to promote stronger relations amid growing security cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan.

“China wants to show that it still has leverage on North Korea and North Korea wants to reinforce ties with China to safeguard its interests. They share the same goal of seeking attention from the U.S. ahead of its election,” he said.

Lim Eul-chul, a professor of North Korean studies at Kyungnam University, said the in-person meeting with Zhao could be seen as a preparatory meeting for Kim’s future visit to Beijing.

“The two are intensifying high-level exchanges and strengthening strategic coordination, but in a more discreet way compared with Pyongyang-Moscow relations. It seems likely that North Korean leader Kim may visit China later this year,” Lim said.

The professor added that there is a possibility that two countries are discussing ways to deepen security cooperation in the region. “There is a possibility that North Korea and China discussed tightening security ties as they seek to counter trilateral security cooperation between the U.S., South Korea and Japan,” he said.

However, some observers expressed doubts about the potential Kim-Xi summit taking place.

“Xi could have sent other high-ranking officials such as China’s top diplomat Wang Yi if he had considered holding a summit with Kim. Sending China’s No. 3 official suggests that he sent Zhao to meet with Kim instead of himself to celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties,” said Park Won-gon, professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University.