TRIANGLE

Kim Jong Un Makes Surprise Visit to China

The North Korean dictator is becoming a “very good diplomat,” one analyst said.

Kim Jong Un could use his recent summit with President Donald Trump as leverage while he visits China, according to a Wednesday analysis from The New York Times. The dictator’s stop in China to meet President Xi Jinping came as a surprise when it was announced Tuesday, and analysts predict that he will attempt to use the China-U.S. trade war to divide the two global superpowers. “He wants to further disrupt the united China-U.S. front,” a Russian expert on North Korea told the Times, “which somewhat surprisingly emerged last year, but now is in critical condition due to the trade war.” Kim is becoming a “very good diplomat,” the analyst added. Kim will likely ask China to ease sanctions—which the U.S. has pledged will not happen until North Korea denuclearizes—the Times adds, while China might try to use North Korea as leverage in the trade war.