Xi left the Chinese capital Thursday morning with his wife and several key aides, including Foreign Minister Wang Yi, top diplomat Yang Jiechi, and key economic adviser He Lifeng, according to Chinese state media.
Xi will spend two days in the North Korean capital with leader Kim Jong Un, in what is expected to be a largely symbolic affair. Photographs from Pyongyang showed parts of the city being decorated for the occasion, adorned with Chinese and North Korean flags, balloon displays and banners that read “unbreakable friendship.”
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In an opinion piece published Wednesday in North Korea’s state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun, Xi wrote that he hopes to use the visit to “engrave a new chapter of the traditional friendship” between the two countries. Though Xi has written for foreign media ahead of visits to other countries, it’s rare for North Korea’s state-controlled media to publish something from a foreign head of state.
