Xi to Visit North Korea Next Month

Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to visit Pyongyang next month at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to attend celebrations of the 70th anniversary of North Korea’s founding, Singapore’s Straits Times newspaper reported. It will be the Chinese leader’s first visit to the North Korean capital since he took power in 2012, and 13 years after the last visit by a Chinese President, when Xi’s predecessor Hu Jintao traveled there in 2005, the newspaper said on Saturday, ABS-CBN reported. The Straits Times did not say where it obtained the information and the Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. North Korea’s celebrations are set to take place on September 9 and the Straits Times said Xi’s visit could still be subject to last-minute changes. China is the reclusive country’s most important trading partner and Kim has visited China three times so far this year during which he has held talks with Xi on improving cooperation between the two countries and economic reforms.