North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited China on Saturday to inaugurate a new bridge linking the two countries and vowed to expand cooperation with his powerful neighbor.
Kim Jong Un’s first visit to China in a year is the latest step in his increasingly assertive foreign policy as he seeks to bring Pyongyang into a united front with Beijing and Moscow against the United States in what he describes as a “new Cold War.”
Kim arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong on Saturday after crossing a newly opened bridge, South Korea’s Unification Ministry and China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported.
In Dandong, Kim Jong Un visited a monument commemorating China’s support for North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War and met Wang Huning, a member of the Chinese Communist Party Standing Committee.
Kim Jong-un said at the memorial service that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will “firmly carry forward the invincible friendship between North Korea and China that has been forged at the cost of bloodshed,” according to North Korea’s official KCNA news agency.
KCNA said that Kim Jong-un reiterated his determination to develop bilateral cooperation during the meeting. Wang Yi conveyed greetings from Chinese President Xi Jinping and said that Kim Jong-un’s visit to the monument was “of great significance” in promoting the friendship between the two countries.
The two also visited a car factory before Wang accompanied Kim to the bridge to see him off, KCNA and Xinhua reported.
According to the Korean Central News Agency, Kim Jong-un said when he returned to the country through the bridge, “This bridge will undoubtedly correctly fulfill the historical mission of connecting the two countries and firmly connecting the hearts of the two peoples.”
After years of prioritizing ties with Russia, Kim has recently taken steps to strengthen ties with China, North Korea’s traditional main ally and economic lifeline. China, for its part, has been seeking to regain its unique influence over North Korea.
North Korea has sent thousands of troops and conventional weapons to support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, possibly in exchange for military and economic aid.
Kim Jong Un last visited Beijing in September 2025, when he met Xi Jinping and watched a military parade with Putin and other foreign leaders.