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N. Korea's Kim, China's Xi hold 2nd summit in northern China
By YonhapPublished : May 8, 2018 - 20:14
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their second summit in about 40 days in northeast China, the two nations' state media reported Tuesday, ahead of an anticipated summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump.
In a dispatch from the Chinese city of Dalian, China's Xinhua news agency reported that Kim and Xi held talks on Monday and Tuesday. The second summit between Kim and Xi appears to highlight efforts by the allies to restore ties that have been chilled by the North's nuclear and missile development.
Kim and Xi "had an all-round and in-depth exchange of views on China-DPRK relations and major issues of common concern," Xinhua said. DPRK is an acronym for North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Xinhua quoted Kim as saying North Korea would give up its nuclear weapons program if "relevant parties" drop hostile policies against Pyongyang.
"As long as relevant parties abolish their hostile policies and remove security threats against the DPRK, there is no need for the DPRK to be a nuclear state and denuclearization can be realized," Xinhua quoted Kim as telling Xi.
The remarks were not seen in reports by North Korea's state media about the summit.
The North's state broadcaster also reported on the second summit between Kim and Xi in the northeastern city of Dalian.
The second summit between Kim and Xi came amid a flurry of top-level diplomacy over the North's nuclear weapons program. Kim is expected to hold an unprecedented summit with Trump late this month or early next month.
Last month, South Korean President Moon Jae-in held a historic summit with Kim and they agreed to work towards "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula.
According to the Xinhua report, Kim said he decided to meet Xi again to "inform him of the situation, hoping to strengthen strategic communication and cooperation with China, deepen DPRK-China friendship, and promote regional peace and stability."
Since the first summit in March, Kim said both bilateral relations and the situation on the Korean Peninsula "have undergone meaningful progress," the report said.
During the talks with Xi, Kim voiced his hope that Pyongyang and Washington "would build mutual trust through dialogue and the relevant sides would take phased and synchronous measures in a responsible manner so as to comprehensively advance the political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue and eventually achieve denuclearization and lasting peace on the peninsula," the report said.
Xi said the momentum of dialogue and alleviation of tension on the peninsula is being consolidated in the direction that is conducive to a political solution, it said.
Shortly after the news of Kim-Xi summit in Dalian, Trump said he would speak with Xi on North Korea.
"I will be speaking to my friend, President Xi of China, this morning at 8:30," Trump tweeted. "The primary topics will be Trade, where good things will happen, and North Korea, where relationships and trust are building."
North Korea's state media reported that Kim traveled to Dalian via a special plane and he was accompanied by his powerful sister Kim Yo-jong and Ri Su-yong, a vice party chairman on international affairs. (Yonhap)
