North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, crossed a new bridge into China on Saturday in his first visit to the neighboring country in more than a year, according to South Korean officials and media reports.
The reason for the reported trip was unclear, but it comes as Beijing and Pyongyang deepen economic and strategic ties despite heavy international sanctions against North Korea. This evolving partnership was highlighted by the opening this month of the New Yalu River Bridge, the largest border crossing connecting the two countries.
Sunday also marks 76 years since Mao Zedong sent his forces into North Korea to support the embattled communist forces during the Korean War against an American-led United Nations coalition. Beijing hopes to promote relations with North Korea to “new heights,” China’s ambassador to North Korea, Wang Yajun, said at a commemorative event this past week, according to People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the governing Communist Party of China.
Mr. Kim arrived in the Chinese city of Dandong, a hub for travel and commerce with North Korea, via the new bridge, according to a South Korean government source who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the matter. South Korean news media also reported the trip, similarly citing government officials.
The trip to Dandong, which features a large museum commemorating the military ties forged between the two nations during the war, was not immediately confirmed by Beijing or Pyongyang.
South Korea keeps a constant eye on the movements of Mr. Kim, and its officials have sometimes announced Mr. Kim’s past visits to China first.
Mr. Kim was likely making a day trip to Dandong, Youn Kun-young, a member of the intelligence committee of South Korea’s National Assembly, told The New York Times.
Citing a briefing from Seoul’s National Intelligence Service, Mr. Youn said that Mr. Kim was likely to return to North Korea later Saturday.
During the visit, Mr. Kim met with Premier Li Qiang of China, Mr. Youn said.
“While the specific purpose of the visit requires further analysis, it is currently presumed to serve two objectives: signaling a positive outlook for a possible North Korea-U.S. summit and addressing key developments in North Korea-China relations, including the opening of the New Yalu River Bridge,” Mr. Youn said.
A public appearance by Mr. Kim would help dispel recent social media rumors of his death, which South Korean intelligence officials had already dismissed as false.
When Mr. Kim visited China in the past, he held talks with its top leader, Xi Jinping. But if or when the two might meet this time was unclear. Starting Monday, Mr. Xi will preside over a four-day meeting in Beijing of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, an assembly of around 300 senior officials.
Posts on Chinese social media showed traffic snarls in Dandong, and some users said residential compounds in the city had been sealed off to prevent people from going out. The area around Wanda Plaza, a commercial hub in Dandong, was blocked, with no one allowed to pass, according to other posts.
Yonhap, South Korea’s main news agency, shared its report that Mr. Kim was visiting China on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, with no interference — at least not immediately — from Chinese censors.
Diplomats and analysts have speculated that Mr. Kim might attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ meeting next month in Shenzhen, in southern China, though it is not clear if China has invited him.
President Trump, who has repeatedly expressed his eagerness to resume personal diplomacy with Mr. Kim, has said he will attend that meeting.
When Mr. Kim met with Mr. Trump in 2018 and 2019, he also met with Mr. Xi either before or after seeing the American leader. The talks with the Chinese leader were meant to show that Pyongyang and Beijing were consulting each other on their approaches to Washington.
The visit may be a further sign that China and North Korea are enhancing their ties, even as Mr. Kim is also trying to deepen ties with Russia. North Korea has provided Russia with critical artillery shells, missiles and troops for its war in Ukraine, prompting Moscow to sign a mutual defense treaty and supply the North with food, oil, and advanced military technology.
In response, Mr. Xi has moved to reassert Beijing’s influence. He invited both Mr. Kim and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to a military parade in Beijing in September 2025. Rail service between Beijing and Pyongyang, suspended during the Covid pandemic, resumed in March, and Mr. Xi visited Pyongyang in June.
Bilateral trade has expanded rapidly. Decades of international sanctions have left North Korea reliant on China for nearly all of its external trade.
Mr. Kim’s first visit to China, and first trip abroad as North Korea’s leader was in 2018. Since then, he has traveled to China several times, holding talks with Mr. Xi each time. On his most recent visit, last year, he attended the military parade in Beijing, which marked mark 80 years since the end of World War II.
Murphy Zhao contributed reporting from Hong Kong.
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