(Reuters) – North Korea’s young leader wants a state visit to China in the latest move in his push to lift the isolated state out of decades of poverty, but risks further fraying ties with his only powerful ally by sticking to the threat of a new nuclear test.
It is not clear whether China will be prepared to host him, as requested, in September when Beijing will be preoccupied with its own leadership change. The leadership may also have its doubts about the unproven Kim Jong-un, who after only four months in office, defied his giant neighbor by conducting a long-range rocket test.
A source with ties to both Pyongyang and Beijing told Reuters on Friday that Kim’s uncle, Jang Song-thaek, effectively the second most powerful figure in Pyongyang, had asked for the visit when he met Chinese leaders on a visit to Beijing last week.
“It will be a state visit. This was one of the most important missions of Jang Song-thaek’s visit,” the source told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
China’s foreign ministry declined to comment on the proposed visit, which would be Kim’s first trip abroad since he took office and became the third of his line to rule North Korea.
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