China and North Korea’s friendship is “unbreakable,” Xi Jinping declared during his June 8-9 state visit to Pyongyang — his first trip to North Korea in seven years and his first overseas visit of 2026. Kim Jong-un received the Chinese leader from what analysts described as an unusually strong position, with North Korea’s weapons program more advanced than at Xi’s last visit and its economy recovering after pandemic isolation. Anniversary diplomatic messages exchanged July 1 have reinforced the same theme, with Kim Jong-un hailing the two countries’ “unshakeable will” to…
Read MoreChina and North Korea Strengthen Strategic Ties as Kim Jong-un Reaffirms Partnership with Xi Jinping
