North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has arrived in China for his first visit to the country in a year, South Korea’s government said Saturday, as Pyongyang seeks to strengthen ties with Beijing amid growing alignment with Moscow.
According to South Korea’s Unification Ministry, Kim appeared to have arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong on Saturday after crossing a newly opened bridge connecting the two countries. The ministry did not immediately provide further details.
The opening of the New Yalu River Bridge this month has been viewed by experts as a symbol of closer ties between the two countries and their efforts to expand trade. The bridge is expected to support round-the-clock traffic in both directions, including container shipments and heavy trucks.
North Korean state media had not reported the visit, while China’s Foreign Ministry press office did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.
Japan’s Kyodo News agency, citing unnamed diplomatic sources, reported earlier Saturday that Chinese authorities had imposed strict traffic restrictions in parts of Dandong and hotel rooms in those areas were unavailable for booking.
Kim has recently moved to strengthen relations with China, Pyongyang’s traditional main ally and economic lifeline, after prioritising ties with Russia for several years. North Korea has sent thousands of troops and conventional weapons to support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, reportedly in return for possible military and economic assistance.
The visit is Kim’s sixth to China since he took power in late 2011 following the death of his father. It comes ahead of the October 25 anniversary of China’s first major victory in the Korean War, days after Chinese troops crossed the Yalu River into North Korea in October 1950.
The war began when North Korea launched a surprise attack on South Korea in June 1950, prompting a US-led United Nations coalition to intervene. Chinese forces backed North Korea, with assistance from the Soviet air force, before an armistice ended the fighting in 1953. The Korean Peninsula technically remains at war.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency reported Friday that a delegation from China’s Ministry of Veterans Affairs had arrived in Pyongyang the previous day, but did not say whether the visit was connected to preparations for the anniversary.
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Pyongyang in June for talks with Kim. During the meeting, Xi expressed Beijing’s readiness to expand cooperation in trade, agriculture, construction and technology, while Kim described relations with China as a top strategic priority.
Kim last visited Beijing in September 2025, when he met Xi and attended a military parade alongside Putin and other foreign leaders.
Kim has maintained a hard line towards Seoul and has so far rejected US President Donald Trump’s proposal to revive diplomatic talks, which collapsed in 2019 during Trump’s first term. Pyongyang has called on Washington to abandon what it describes as a “hostile policy” and drop demands for North Korea’s denuclearisation as a condition for renewed negotiations.
South Korea’s intelligence agency told lawmakers last month that there was a 50 percent possibility of a meeting between Trump and Kim on the sidelines of next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China.