Different Focus in State Media Reports on Xi-Kim Meeting Reveals Beijing and Pyongyang's Respective Calculations

(Seoul, 9th, Comprehensive Foreign Report/CNA) Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Pyongyang for the first time in seven years for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Despite goodwill from both sides, analysts point out that reports from the two countries' state media on the Xi-Kim meeting reveal vastly different priorities.

Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday that Xi Jinping put forward a four-point proposal for developing bilateral relations during the talks. This included strengthening exchanges in diplomacy, law enforcement, and military affairs; expanding practical cooperation in areas such as economy, trade, agriculture, construction, science and technology, and public health; and using the full reopening of border ports and the resumption of civil aviation flights and international passenger trains as an opportunity to expand personnel exchanges.

North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported today that this was Xi's first visit in seven years to China's only formally signed ally. Xi told Kim Jong Un that the purpose of the trip was to advance their bilateral relationship, and both sides agreed to pursue closer strategic communication through high-level official visits.

Lim Eul-chul, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam University in South Korea, pointed out that Pyongyang emphasizes regime dignity and its "special relationship" with its neighbor, while Beijing emphasizes pragmatic state-to-state relations and its initiatives for the international order.

KCNA also reported that Kim Jong Un told Xi Jinping he would fully support Beijing's "One-China Principle" regardless of changes in the international situation.

Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, stated: "North Korea has eliminated elements that might make it seem subordinate, dependent, or a beneficiary, and has rewritten the relationship as one of equals."

Hong further noted: "It amplifies signals of unity, such as anti-US and Taiwan-related messages, while erasing signals of dependence or subordination."

Xinhua reported yesterday that Xi vowed Beijing would never waver in its commitment to safeguarding common interests. However, North Korean media did not mention whether Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program or its relationship with the United States were discussed in the talks.

Chuang Chia-ying, a political science professor at the National University of Singapore, pointed out that the failure to mention these contents shows that Beijing hopes to limit this trip to the scope of bilateral relations between the two countries. (Compiled by: Liu Shu-chin) 1150609