Kim Jong-un Arrives in Dandong, Opens Road Link to China

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong on Saturday, crossing the New Yalu River Bridge to reach China, South Korea's unification ministry and China's Xinhua news agency both reported. The 3km crossing opened in mid-October, twelve years after Chinese crews completed construction, which stalled on the North Korean side for over a decade.

In Dandong, Kim met Wang Huning, a member of the standing committee of the Chinese Communist party's central committee. The two toured a car factory and spoke about strengthening ties between their governments. Xinhua quoted Kim as saying North Korea "stands ready to work with China to carry forward their historical friendship and expand practical cooperation, thereby delivering tangible benefits to the peoples of both countries." Wang later accompanied Kim to the bridge to see him off, Xinhua reported.

The timing lines up with 25 October, the anniversary of China's first major victory in the Korean war. That battle came days after Chinese troops moved across the Yalu River into North Korea in October 1950. Japan's Kyodo agency reported traffic controls around the bridge and near a museum of China's role in the war, plus limits on hotel bookings nearby; diplomatic sources told Kyodo those steps related to a senior North Korean official's visit.

Kim's trip is his sixth to China and his first since September 2025, when he joined a military parade in Beijing with Chinese president Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin. Xi went to Pyongyang in June, his first visit there in seven years. In early September, North Korea and Russia opened the first road bridge across their own short border, leaving Pyongyang linked by road to its two main backers.

Relations with South Korea have moved the other way. Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong, has issued about eight statements criticizing Seoul since late September, a pace South Korea's unification ministry called unusual. She has also announced plans to resume loudspeaker broadcasts at the border within days.

Xi will host the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen on 18-19 November, a date that has prompted talk of a possible meeting between Kim and Donald Trump. Reuters reported on Friday that US and South Korean officials see little chance of Kim meeting the US president this year.