Why Xi Jinping is going to North Korea to court Kim Jong-un

The last time China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, traveled to North Korea, that country’s dictator, Kim Jong-un, was reeling from sanctions and failed nuclear talks with the United States.

Now, nearly seven years later, as Xi returns to North Korea on Monday, he will meet with a leader who is newly emboldened by an alliance with Russia that has helped his economy break out of isolation.

Xi is expected to use the two-day summit with Kim to project a united front between allies against the West. But analysts say China is likely also keen to assert its influence over a neighbor that has leaned toward Russia. Kim, for his part, wants to be treated less like a junior partner to China and will likely use his new closeness to Russia to press Beijing for economic concessions.

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