Chinese President Xi Jinping may visit Pyongyang, North Korea, to speak with supreme leader Kim Jong Un as soon as late May or early June, according to senior government officials cited by South Korea's Yonhap news agency. The sources added that the Chinese side has already sent a security and diplomatic protocol team ahead to prepare for such a visit, and that Xi aimed to use the visit to position himself as a mediator in any future talks between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after his May 14-15 summit with Xi that the two discussed North Korea. Xi has not visited North Korea since June 20-21, 2019, a visit that occurred just over a week before Trump met with Kim at the demilitarized zone on the border between North Korea and South Korea.