Full of pageantry and gushing words about a “new chapter” in China-North Korea relations, Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to Pyongyang this week for talks with leader Kim Jong Un was a celebration of ties “forged in blood.”
But there was little in terms of concrete takeaways following Xi’s first visit to North Korea in seven years, beyond the leaders’ ambiguous commitment to strengthening “strategic communication.”
What was not said publicly may have been the most important aspect of the two-day visit that wrapped up Tuesday — namely the absence of any mention of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
