North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met with China's Xi Jinping in a secret Beijing visit.
And in his first ever summit with any world leader,... the two sides have reportedly talked issus of denuclearization and peaceful Korean Peninsula.
Kwon Jang-ho with more.
After much speculation, both North Korean and Chinese state media confirmed that Kim Jong-un visited Beijing this week.
According to reports, Chinese President Xi Jinping invited Kim for a, quote, 'informal' visit.
Kim had set off from North Korea on Sunday, accompanied by his wife, Ri Sol-ju , and a number of senior Pyongyang officials, arriving in Beijing the next day, where he met with Xi.
The two are said to have praised each other's recent accomplishments, such as Xi's re-election, and Kim's efforts to make positive changes on the Korean peninsula.
They also pledged to communicate and cooperate more often, stressing the importance and historical significance of their bilateral ties.
However, Chinese media reports said that when Xi brought up the topic of denuclearization, Kim said that it has always been the will of the regime to denuclearize, and that it can be resolved IF South Korea and the U.S. take 'progressive' steps towards North Korea's acts of goodwill.
He is also said to have expressed willingness to hold summits with both leaders of South Korea and the U.S.
These comments were NOT included in the North Korean state media readouts of the meeting.
Instead, they included an invitation from Kim to Xi to visit Pyongyang at a convenient time, which the Chinese President was said to have accepted with pleasure.
This invite was missing from Beijing's state media reports.
On the evening of Kim's arrival, Xi is said to have hosted a welcoming banquet for the North Korean delegation, as well as an arts performance. Kim is also said to have toured an exhibition of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and had another luncheon with Xi on Tuesday, before departing back to Pyongyang later in the evening.
The meeting seems to show a reconciliation of ties between the two old allies. But the differing reports point to the different agendas that Kim and Xi had during the visit.
Kwon Jang-ho, Arirang News.
