January 11, 2019

Riding on a bullet-proof train, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived this week in Beijing just in time to spend his 35th birthday alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The surprise trip to the Chinese capital served as a reminder to Washington that nuclear-armed Pyongyang has other strategic allies, underscoring the importance of the Sino-North Korean relationship ahead of Kim's possible second summit with US President Donald Trump.

"It's no secret China has always wanted to be a part of this talk," said James Kim, director at the the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in South Korea's capital, Seoul.

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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/190110233144024.html