Kim Jong Un makes surprise day visit to Chinese border city Dandong across new bridge

A surprise visit to the border

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the Chinese border city of Dandong on Saturday, 24 October, in what South Korean government sources described to Yonhap as his first trip to China in a year. He entered the city by crossing the newly opened bridge over the Yalu River, and footage posted on Chinese social media appeared to show his motorcade on the span. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed him walking across the bridge with people waving flags on either side. North Korean and Chinese state media had not initially reported the trip, and the visit was first confirmed through South Korean officials and later through Xinhua.

Kim's last visit to Beijing came in September 2025, when he met Xi Jinping and watched a military parade alongside Vladimir Putin and other foreign leaders. Since then he has moved closer to both Beijing and Moscow, and North Korea sent thousands of soldiers and conventional weapons to support Russia's war in Ukraine. Analysts cited by Mediafax see the trip as part of his effort to align Pyongyang with Beijing and Moscow in a united front against the United States.

Talks with Wang Huning

Xinhua reported that Wang Huning, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and the fourth-ranking official in China's hierarchy, received Kim in Dandong and passed on greetings and best wishes from Xi Jinping. The two laid a wreath at a monument to Chinese soldiers who died in the Korean War and visited a car factory in the city. According to Xinhua, Kim thanked China for its long-standing support of North Korea's socialist cause. Wang proposed using the opening of the new bridge to expand trade and exchanges between the two countries, but no concrete agreements were announced.

South Korean sources had said Premier Li Qiang met Kim at the border, but the Chinese official account did not mention him, and Chinese authorities did not confirm that meeting. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also took part in the commemorative events, according to Xinhua.

Rumours about his health

The visit came after rumours that Kim had died. A Chinese dissident claimed, without providing evidence, that Kim had suffered a brain haemorrhage and had been taken to a hospital in Beijing, where he died. The BBC noted that an event of that magnitude would probably have caused noticeable reactions at the Chinese border and would hardly have escaped South Korean intelligence services. Images of Kim walking through Dandong were broadcast the same day the rumours were being discussed.

Bridge and regional alignment

The bridge opened on 15 October, nearly 12 years after its construction was completed in 2014, because North Korea lacked access roads and customs facilities on its side. China financed the roughly three-kilometre structure, which has four lanes and links Dandong with the North Korean city of Sinuiju. The opening was meant to ease road trade between the two neighbours, which share a border of more than 1,400 kilometres. Reports say a road bridge between Russia and North Korea was opened earlier this month.

China marks the 76th anniversary of its entry into the Korean War on Sunday, 25 October, and it is unclear whether Kim will take part in those events. Deutsche Welle reported that the visit has revived speculation about a possible meeting between Kim and Donald Trump around the APEC summit in Shenzhen in November. Kim has rejected Trump's proposal to revive diplomacy, and Pyongyang has demanded that Washington drop its hostile policy and its denuclearisation demands first.