North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Visits China to Open New Border Bridge

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to China on Saturday to open a new bridge that connects the two countries across the Yalu River. Kim crossed the bridge himself and arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong, where he met with a top Chinese official. The visit showed that North Korea and China want to work more closely together, especially on trade and other shared goals.

Kim met with Wang Huning, a senior member of China's Communist Party. The two leaders toured a car factory together and made promises to strengthen the relationship between their countries. Kim said North Korea is ready to build on its long friendship with China and create real benefits for the people of both nations.

The new crossing is called the New Yalu River Bridge. Experts say it is a major symbol of the growing bond between North Korea and China. The bridge is built to handle heavy traffic all day and night, including large cargo trucks and containers full of goods, which will make trade between the two countries much easier.

Kim has been working hard to build stronger ties with China, which has long been North Korea's most important ally and its main source of economic support. In recent years, Kim also grew closer to Russia by sending thousands of soldiers and weapons to help Russia in its war in Ukraine. In return, North Korea likely received military and economic help from Russia.

Saturday's visit was Kim's sixth trip to China since he took power in 2011 after his father died. The trip appears to be timed around an important date — October 25 — which marks the anniversary of China's first big victory in the Korean War. Back in October 1950, Chinese troops crossed the Yalu River into North Korea to help fight against U.S.-led forces.

The Korean War started when North Korea launched a surprise attack on South Korea in June 1950. The United States led a group of countries under the United Nations to help defend South Korea. China backed North Korea, and fighting continued until 1953, when both sides agreed to stop. No peace deal was ever signed, so the two Koreas are technically still at war today.

Kim also said he visited China to honor and remember those who died in the Korean War. Chinese President Xi Jinping had visited North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, back in June for talks with Kim. At that meeting, Xi said China was willing to work with North Korea on trade, farming, building projects, and technology.

Kim has kept a tough stance toward South Korea and has not responded to U.S. President Donald Trump's offer to restart talks between the two countries. Those talks broke down in 2019. North Korea says the U.S. must drop its demands that North Korea give up its nuclear weapons before any new talks can begin.

South Korea's government hopes that better relations between the U.S. and North Korea could also help improve ties between the two Koreas. South Korea's spy agency said last month there is about a 50% chance that Trump and Kim could meet at an upcoming Asia-Pacific summit in Shenzhen, China. A professor in Seoul said that if North Korea spends more energy on its economy rather than its military, that could be good for peace in the region.