

By Lee Jeong-ho





Chinese President Xi Jinping accepted an offer to visit Pyongyang after meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, North Korea's state media reported on Thursday.







"Xi accepted the offer," the KCNA reported, without elaborating on details of the plans.







The report came as Kim returned to Pyongyang after a trip to China, where he held talks with Xi and visited an economic development area in Beijing.







North Korea has repeatedly invited Xi to visit Pyongyang. In September, it invited Xi for its national day, with relations between the two countries gaining pace. South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said in October that Xi was expected to visit North Korea "soon".







Chinese state news agency Xinhua did not mention the invitation, but said Beijing supported Pyongyang's continued efforts on denuclearisation, and called for the United States and North Korea to meet "halfway", advocating concessions from both sides to reach an agreement at the planned second summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump.







"China supports the DPRK's continued adherence to the direction of denuclearisation on the peninsula, supports the continuous improvement of inter-Korean relations," Xi was quoted as saying, using the initial of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.







"[China also] supports the DPRK and the United States holding summits and achieving results, and supports relevant parties resolving their respective legitimate concerns through dialogue. China hopes that the DPRK and the United States will meet each other halfway."







Washington favours complete, verifiable and immediate denuclearisation, whereas Pyongyang favours a more gradual approach known as "phased and synchronised measures".







Kim acknowledged China's role in developments on the Korean peninsula.







"The Korean peninsula situation has been easing since last year, and China's important role in this process is obvious to all … the DPRK side highly and sincerely appreciates the Chinese efforts," Kim said.







"[North Korea would] make efforts for the second summit between DPRK and US leaders to achieve results that will be welcomed by the international community."

