North Korea and China leaders agree to boost ties at Pyongyang summit

SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and China's Xi Jinping held a summit on Monday in Pyongyang and agreed to expand cooperation between the two countries in various sectors, North Korea's state media KCNA said on Tuesday.

The two leaders agreed to develop bilateral relations into a new chapter, KCNA said.

Kim told Xi that he would fully support the "One China principle," which Beijing views as meaning both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one country, regardless of how the international situation changes, according to KCNA.

Xi, making his first visit to North Korea in seven years, told Kim that he would use his trip as an opportunity to make significant progress in bilateral relations, KCNA said.

The two leaders also agreed to deepen strategic communication between the two countries through visits by high-level officials, KCNA added.

The North Korean media did not mention whether the leaders discussed Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program or not.

China's state media Xinhua reported Xi's visit on Monday.

(Reporting by Heejin Kim; Editing by Chris Reese and Sanjeev Miglani)

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published June 8, 2026 at 3:50 PM.