A television screen showing an image of Kim Jong Un, leader of North Korea, center, during a news broadcast on North Korea’s nuclear test in Busan, South Korea. (Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg)

North Korea and China Back Second Trump-Kim Summit

Jan 09 2019, 11:47 PMJan 10 2019, 2:56 AMJanuary 09 2019, 11:47 PMJanuary 10 2019, 2:56 AM

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Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping backed a second summit between the North Korean leader and President Donald Trump, state media reported, in the latest sign that momentum was gaining toward a meeting.

Kim, who this week met Xi in his fourth trip to China, said he would work toward achieving results in talks with Trump, China’s official Xinhua News Agency said Thursday. Xi said he supported North Korea’s denuclearization efforts and added that there was an international consensus to continue dialogue.

Xi informed Kim of his intention to make his first visit to North Korea, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said in a separate report. They also talked about the difficulties and concerns about the outlook on the denuclearization process and improving relations with U.S., the North Korean report said.

Kim, who held an unprecedented summit with Trump in Singapore in June, also said he would maintain his stance on denuclearization, Xinhua said.

Seeking Talks

Kim laid out a key condition in his New Year’s Day address, calling for the U.S. to ease sanctions squeezing his state’s anemic economy, something that China supports. North Korea in December also demanded the U.S. remove nuclear weapons from the region.

Trump is seeking a second summit with Kim to re-energize talks that have made little headway since Kim agreed to “work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” at their first meeting. The U.S. president recently said a date would be announced “in the not-too-distant future.”

Kim could be looking to leverage his relationship with Xi, who Trump has accused of relaxing pressure on North Korea, to push the U.S. to make concessions in nuclear talks. The North Korean leader said in his New Year’s address that he might take a “new path” in negotiations if Trump didn’t ease trade, travel and investment restrictions.

“The visit of Chairman Kim to China is, I think, quite a good sign and I look forward to the second summit,” South Korea’s envoy to the U.S., Cho Yoon-je, said earlier Wednesday in Washington.

The Xinhua report described Kim’s meeting with Xi, which was held on what is believed to be the North Korean leader’s 35th birthday, as being held with a “cordial and friendly atmosphere.” The two men, who had gone five years without meeting each other before last year, customarily referred to each other as “comrade” and committed to future exchanges.

“I am willing to work with Comrade Chairman to make sound efforts to guide the future development of China-DPRK relationship,” Xi said, referring to North Korea’s formal name.

Kim thanked Xi “for taking time from a busy schedule” to meet him.

“Under the utmost care of Comrade General Secretary, the DPRK-China relations last year were elevated to a new height and a new chapter was written,” Kim said.