North Korea's Kim visits China on eve of Korean War anniversary

Dandong — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong on Saturday, crossing a newly opened bridge linking the two countries a day ahead of a politically charged anniversary, according to Seoul. Chinese Premier Li Qiang met Kim in the border city, the Japan Times reported.

Kim travelled to Dandong over the New Yalu River Bridge, a South Korean government source told the Yonhap news agency. The visit comes one day before Pyongyang and Beijing mark Oct. 25, the anniversary of Chinese troops' entry into the 1950-1953 Korean War on the North's side.

The trip was expected to be brief. Yonhap, citing a South Korean ruling party source, said Kim was expected to return home later on Saturday.

The numbers point to an accelerating pattern. This is Kim's sixth known trip to China; his last, in September 2025, took him to Beijing to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, where he met Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kim has sought to deepen ties with both powers.

The route itself carries economic weight. The bridge connecting Dandong with the North Korean city of Sinuiju opened earlier this month after more than a decade of construction work and is expected to bolster trade and economic ties between the two neighbours.

For Beijing, hosting Kim on the eve of the war anniversary underscores a relationship built on that conflict; for Pyongyang, the optics of a meeting with China's premier come as it leans more heavily on both Moscow and Beijing. South Korea's government was the source of the initial confirmation of the trip, a reminder of how closely Seoul monitors movement across the Yalu.

The next marker comes quickly: how the two governments mark the Oct. 25 anniversary on Sunday, and whether any joint statement or economic agreement follows Kim's crossing of the new bridge.