Kim Jong Un Crosses New Bridge Into China, Vows to Deepen Ties in First Visit in a Year
The North Korean leader opened the span at Dandong and met a senior Chinese Communist Party official as Pyongyang pushes a united front with Beijing and Moscow against Washington.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited China on Saturday, inaugurating a new bridge that connects the two countries and vowing to expand cooperation with his powerful neighbor. It was his first trip to China in a year.
Kim arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong after crossing the newly opened bridge, according to South Korea's Unification Ministry and China's state news agency Xinhua. In Dandong he visited a memorial marking China's support of North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War and met Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of China's Communist Party.
At the memorial, Kim said North Korea will "firmly carry forward the invincible DPRK-China friendship forged at the cost of blood all the time," according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency. In the meeting, he reaffirmed a resolve to develop bilateral cooperation, KCNA said. Wang conveyed greetings from Chinese President Xi Jinping and said Kim's visit to the memorial was "of great significance" in carrying forward the friendship between the two countries.
The two men also toured a car factory before Wang accompanied Kim to the bridge to send him off. Returning home across the span, Kim said it "would undoubtedly and correctly fulfill its historic mission of linking the two countries and firmly joining the minds of the peoples of the two countries," KCNA reported.
The trip is the latest move in an increasingly assertive foreign policy. Kim is seeking to align Pyongyang with Beijing and Moscow in a united front against the United States under what he portrays as a "new Cold War." He has recently taken steps to bolster ties with China, the North's traditional main ally and economic lifeline, after years of prioritizing relations with Russia. China, for its part, has sought to restore its unique influence over North Korea.
Russia remains central to the picture. 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 assistance. Kim's renewed outreach to Beijing follows those years of closer ties with Moscow.
Kim's last trip was in September 2025, when he went to Beijing, met Xi and watched a military parade alongside Putin and other foreign leaders. Xi visited North Korea in June for the first time in seven years, pledging a powerful partnership.
The bridge opens a new physical link between the two countries, and Saturday's ceremony tied it to the wartime memorial, framing the relationship as a bond forged in the Korean War.
