Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping shaking hands (Pyongyang Yonhap News) - A performance was held at the Pyongyang Gymnasium on the 8th to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is visiting North Korea, as reported by the Korean Central News Agency on the 9th. After the performance, Chairman Kim Jong Un and President Xi Jinping are shaking hands. 2026.6.9

[For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution] nkphoto@yna.co.kr

As the summit between the leaders of North Korea and China strengthens their strategic alignment, South Korea's diplomatic calculations are becoming increasingly complex, diverging from the "constructive role of China regarding the Korean Peninsula" that Seoul had hoped for.

China did not mention "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," a sensitive issue for North Korea. In return, North Korea clearly expressed its support for China by emphasizing the "One China" principle regarding Taiwan, a key Chinese interest.

Observations suggest that through this North Korea-China summit, North Korea has secured China as a more powerful backer than Russia, leading to an increasingly overt alignment of North Korea, China, and Russia against South Korea, the United States, and Japan in Northeast Asia.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, currently visiting North Korea, stated at a banquet in Pyongyang on the 8th that "this year, China-North Korea relations stand at a new historical starting point," the Korean Central News Agency reported on the 9th.

The absence of any mention of North Korean denuclearization or a solution to the Korean Peninsula issue in the readout of the meeting between President Xi and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un, released the previous day, could serve as a clue to understanding Xi's "new historical starting point."

Following the summit between the US and China last month, the US stated that both countries reaffirmed their common goal of denuclearizing North Korea, but China made no mention of this, and this stance has continued through the recent North Korea-China talks.

This can be interpreted as a two-way message: implicitly indicating that China does not agree with the US's unilateral pursuit of "North Korean denuclearization," while simultaneously conveying to North Korea that China should not be excluded when dealing with a "US pursuing denuclearization."

Xi Jinping attends welcoming performance for state visit to North Korea (Pyongyang Yonhap News) - A performance was held at the Pyongyang Gymnasium on the 8th to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is visiting North Korea, as reported by the Korean Central News Agency on the 9th. Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un are watching the performance. 2026.6.9

[For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution] nkphoto@yna.co.kr

North Korea has shown clear support for China on the issue of Taiwan, a key foreign policy objective for Beijing.

Chairman Kim stated, "We will regard the development of China-North Korea relations as the most important and primary strategic task of the state," and "North Korea will continue to uphold the One China principle and firmly support the policies and positions taken by China to defend its core interests," reported China's Xinhua News Agency.

President Trump himself revealed that during his meeting with Xi Jinping last month, he asked, "Will you defend Taiwan if China attacks?"

North Korea has adopted a stance of thoroughly supporting China on the issue of Taiwan, a subject that China considers most important and reacts to most sensitively, even to the point of hinting at a "reunification by force" scenario for Taiwan in front of President Trump.

There are assessments that North Korea, which had appeared to be relatively neglecting China amid its close military ties with Russia due to events like the Ukraine war, is now moving beyond balancing between China and Russia and is becoming closer to its most important partner, China.

From China's perspective, by strengthening ties with North Korea following its hosting of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing shortly after President Trump's visit to China last month, it has effectively deepened the "China-Russia-North Korea" alliance centered around China.

Consequently, concerns are rising that this outcome is far from the "contribution to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula" or "China's constructive role in the Korean Peninsula issue" that South Korea's foreign affairs authorities had hoped for from this North Korea-China summit.

This is because it has resulted in a deepening of the new Cold War dynamic in Northeast Asia, with the US, Japan, and South Korea in opposition to North Korea, China, and Russia, rather than drawing North Korea into international dialogue. As a result, it is speculated that South Korea's diplomatic engagement with China, which the government has emphasized as having normalized, is now facing its true test.

Professor Kang Joon-young of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies suggested the government's stance, stating, "In any case, we have no choice but to continue strategic communication with China," and urged China, "Given that the North Korea-China relationship has an impact on not only China-South Korea relations but also on Northeast Asian stability, we hope China will manage it stably or, even if denuclearization is difficult, play a role in setting a direction for regional peace and stability." (Yonhap News)