'Meet in the Middle': Kim, Xi Seek to Break U.S.-North Korea Impasse
'Meet in the Middle': Kim, Xi Seek to Break U.S.-North Korea Impasse
The meetings gave Beijing a platform to underline its clout in global affairs and its critical leverage in resolving one of Washington’s top security challenges. The U.S., embroiled in an increasingly bitter dispute with China over trade practices, needs the cooperation of President Xi Jinping to enforce sanctions on North Korea and to nudge his Communist ally into making concessions toward giving up his nuclear arsenal.
For Kim Jong Un, his fourth visit in a year to China carried a purposeful reminder for the Trump administration that it should prepare to give ground to get a denuclearization deal. The regime has been calling for sanctions relief from the U.S. China has long been North Korea’s main economic and diplomatic partner, with by far the greatest leverage over Pyongyang.
Chinese state media accounts Thursday said that Messrs. Kim and Xi met over two days this week in Beijing, before the North Korean leader left the Chinese capital Wednesday.
In their meetings, Mr. Xi offered his blessing to further talks between the North Korean leader and President Trump, saying he hopes the two sides can “meet in the middle,” according to China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a welcome ceremony in Beijing.
Photo:
Shen Hong/Associated Press
Mr. Kim gave credit to China for playing a key role in improving the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and said he would work to ensure a second meeting with Mr. Trump is successful, Xinhua said.
Footage shown by Chinese state television highlighted the message of close ties. The two leaders met in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square, with the younger North Korean taking notes as Mr. Xi spoke. Later, they met together along with their wives. Mr. Kim and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, also toured a Chinese traditional medicine factory.
Mr. Kim extended an invitation to Mr. Xi to visit North Korea, which the Chinese president accepted “with pleasure,” according to Pyongyang’s state media. The North Korean leader had offered an identical overture in March last year, which state media reports at the time indicated he had accepted, though Mr. Xi has yet to make the journey.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping met at the Beijing Hotel.
Photo:
Huang Jingwen/Xinhua/Associated Press
In recent weeks, Pyongyang has been signaling that Washington should loosen the broad sanctions hobbling North Korea’s economy. The White House has refused, saying it will keep sanctions in place until it can verify North Korea has dismantled its nuclear weapons program. For each side, China’s support is critical.
China’s leadership was instrumental in tightening sanctions and prodding Mr. Kim to the negotiating table last year. As North Korea’s biggest trading partner, aid provider and investor, China is critical to maintaining the pressure. To move ahead with denuclearization, Mr. Xi’s government has suggested a phased approach in which North Korean concessions should be met with ones from the international community—a position potentially at odds with Washington’s.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un offered a new gesture of peace in his New Year’s speech after denuclearization talks with the U.S. stalled. But his message also comes with a warning. WSJ’s Andrew Jeong takes a look at what’s ahead. Photo: KCNA via Reuters
An agreement to resolve the North Korean nuclear question reached between Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump at a summit in Singapore in June has produced no discernible progress despite considerable fanfare. Anticipation has been growing for a second summit. Mr. Kim said in his annual New Year’s speech that North Korea has refrained from further developing its nuclear program. Mr. Trump said on Sunday that the two sides were negotiating a location.
Zhang Liangui, a North Korea expert at China’s Central Party School, said Mr. Kim likely needed to shore up China’s support. “Before taking the next step and meeting with Trump again, he would want to consult with China on what to say and how to say it,” he said.
Mr. Kim visited China ahead of his June meeting with Mr. Trump and before meetings with South Korean leaders.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday pressed the U.S. and North Korea to break the impasse in denuclearization talks, saying reciprocal concessions were needed to achieve the U.S. goal of disarming Pyongyang and Mr. Kim’s goal of obtaining sanctions relief.
“North Korea has already mentioned halting missile tests, suspending nuclear facilities” and scrapping its Yongbyon reactor site, Mr. Moon told reporters. “When the U.S. takes corresponding measures and builds trust, the denuclearization process will move along,” he said.
Mr. Kim’s visit to China showed the next summit with President Trump is near, Mr. Moon said, adding that the pace of Pyongyang’s denuclearization would determine any loosening of sanctions.
The North Korean leader made economic development a focus of his New Year’s speech, and has shown interest in borrowing from China’s experience with economic overhauls. While China has been suspected of turning a blind eye to some sanctions evasion such as ship-to-ship transfers of oil to support Pyongyang, Beijing has said it is meeting U.N. Security Council commitments.
“In my four visits to China in less than a year, China’s success in economic development and the spirit of its people in struggling to make their country strong has left a deep impression on me,” Xinhua quoted Mr. Kim as saying while in Beijing.
With U.N. sanctions still in place, China’s willingness to aid North Korea’s economic ambitions is limited, said Kim Heung-kyu, a professor of political science at Ajou University in South Korea.
"At the end, if North Korea wants what it wants, like becoming a normal state, pursuing economic growth, then it must achieve a breakthrough in talks with the U.S.,” he said.
—Lekai Liu in Beijing contributed to this article.
Write to Josh Chin at josh.chin@wsj.com and Andrew Jeong at andrew.jeong@wsj.com
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