North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited China on Saturday to inaugurate a new bridge connecting the two countries, pledging to strengthen cooperation with his powerful neighbour.
The visit is part of Kim’s efforts to strengthen ties with China and Russia as he seeks to build a united front against the United States. It was his first visit to China in a year.
Kim arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong after crossing the newly opened bridge, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry and China’s Xinhua News Agency.
In Dandong, Kim visited a memorial honouring Chinese support for North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War and met Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of China’s Communist Party.
Kim pledged to maintain the long-standing friendship between the two countries, while Wang conveyed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s greetings and described the memorial visit as significant for strengthening bilateral ties, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
The two leaders also toured a car factory before Wang accompanied Kim to the bridge for his departure.
Bridge expected to boost trade
The New Yalu River Bridge, which opened this month after more than a decade of delays, is expected to boost trade between the two countries. It can handle traffic in both directions around the clock, including container shipments and heavy trucks.
Kim said the bridge would fulfil its historic role of connecting the two countries and strengthening friendship between their peoples, KCNA reported.
The inauguration highlights efforts by both countries to strengthen relations. China has traditionally been North Korea’s main ally and a vital source of economic support, although Kim has prioritised relations with Russia in recent years.
North Korea has sent thousands of troops and conventional weapons to support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, reportedly in exchange for military and economic assistance.
Visit marks Korean War anniversary
Kim’s visit, his sixth to China since taking power in late 2011, came ahead of the Oct 25 anniversary of China’s first major victory in the Korean War. Chinese troops entered North Korea in October 1950, days after the conflict began with Pyongyang’s attack on South Korea in June that year.
A US-led United Nations coalition intervened to support South Korea, while China backed North Korea with military assistance from the then-Soviet Union. Fighting ended with a 1953 armistice, leaving the Korean Peninsula technically at war.
Xi visited Pyongyang in June and expressed Beijing’s willingness to expand cooperation with North Korea in trade, agriculture, construction and technology. 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.
Diplomatic efforts remain uncertain
Kim has maintained a hard line towards South Korea and rejected US President Donald Trump’s proposal to revive talks that collapsed in 2019 during Trump’s first term.
Pyongyang has demanded that Washington abandon its “hostile policy” and drop its demand for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons as a condition for renewed negotiations.
South Korea’s liberal government supports engagement with the North and hopes renewed talks between Washington and Pyongyang could improve relations between the two Koreas. Seoul has also urged Beijing to play a “constructive” role in resolving tensions.
South Korea’s intelligence agency told lawmakers last month that there was a 50% possibility of a meeting between Trump and Kim on the sidelines of next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China.
“If North Korea focuses more on economic development than military buildup and threats, that would be positive for diplomacy and security,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.
However, he said it remained unclear what South Korea could offer Pyongyang if Kim continued to secure greater benefits from China and Russia, given the political risks North Korea associates with engagement with its more prosperous and democratic neighbour.