SEOUL, South Korea: Chinese President Xi Jinping praised North Korea on Wednesday for moving in the “right direction” by politically resolving issues on the Korean peninsula, in a rare op-ed published by a North Korean state newspaper that comes on the eve of Xi’s visit to Pyongyang to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Xi had nothing to say on the biggest outside worry about North Korea — stalled nuclear weapons talks between Washington and Pyongyang — in the Rodong Sinmun article.

But experts believe he could use his summit with Kim, which the North is calling a state visit, to endorse North Korean calls for an incremental disarmament process in which every action Pyongyang takes is met with US concessions on sanctions and security issues.





Much of the op-ed focused on lauding the neighbors’ seven-decade relationship. Xi said his visit on Thursday and Friday would “strengthen strategic communication and exchange” between the traditional, though sometimes strained, allies. The nations fought together in the 1950-53 Korean War against the United States, South Korea and their allies, but there has been friction in recent years, especially over the North’s relentless push for nuclear bombs.

Xi, who is locked in a bitter trade war with President Donald Trump, will likely meet with the US leader at the G-20 meetings in Japan.

AP