Pyongyang visit to contribute to Korean Peninsula talks: Xi Jinping

TIL Desk/World/Pyongyang/ Chinese President Xi Jinping, in an op-ed published in an official North Korean newspaper on Wednesday, said his upcoming visit to Pyongyang will help achieve progress in the negotiations on the Korean Peninsula’s denuclearization issue.

Xi’s opinion piece was published in Rodong Sinmun ahead of his visit on Thursday. The two-day visit by Xi will be a first by a Chinese President in the last 14 years and the first since he came to power in 2013. It follows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s four visits to China in the past year.

“We will actively contribute to peace, stability, development and prosperity in the region by strengthening communication and coordination with the North Korea,” Xi said. The op-ed makes a clear reference to the denuclearization negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang, which have been stalled since the failed Hanoi summit in February.