Crossing into Dandong

Dandong, on China's side of the border, received Kim Jong-un on Saturday, with the North Korean leader reaching the city by way of the New Yalu River Bridge. South Korea's unification ministry and Xinhua both reported the arrival. Xinhua added that Wang Huning went with Kim to the crossing to see him off.

Meeting Wang Huning and a Call for Cooperation

During the trip Kim sat down with Wang Huning, who sits on the standing committee of China's Communist party, and the two also walked through a car factory together. Xinhua quoted the North Korean leader as saying his country "stands ready to work with China to carry forward their historical friendship and expand practical cooperation".

A Bridge 12 Years in the Making

The crossing Kim used is new: the 3km span began carrying traffic in mid-October, a dozen years after Chinese crews finished the work, with delays on the North Korean side having held up its use. Weeks earlier, in early September, North Korea and Russia opened the first road bridge across their own short border, newly linking Pyongyang by road to its main backers.

Security Measures and Diplomatic Context

Dandong itself showed signs of a high-level arrival. Kyodo reported on Saturday that movement around the bridge and a war museum had been curbed and that hotels in the area had stopped taking bookings; diplomatic sources told the agency a senior North Korean official's visit lay behind the restrictions.

• •The timing points to the 25 October anniversary of China's first major victory in the Korean war, which followed Chinese troops crossing the Yalu River in October 1950.
• •For Kim this marked a sixth trip to China, and the first since September 2025, when Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin joined him at a military parade in Beijing.
• •Xi, for his part, travelled to Pyongyang in June after a seven-year absence.
• •Kim Yo Jong has made roughly 10 statements attacking Seoul since late September - a rate South Korea's unification ministry described as unusual - and said loudspeaker broadcasts at the border would resume within days.
• •Next on the calendar for Xi: the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen on 18-19 November.

The Shenzhen summit has fuelled speculation about a meeting between Kim and Donald Trump, but Reuters reported on Friday that US and South Korean officials see little chance of Kim meeting the US president this year.