Xi Visits North Korea to Boost Influence Over Emboldened Kim (1)

ChinesePresident Xi Jinping is heading to North Korea in a likely bid to reassert Beijing’s influence over an emboldened Kim Jong Un, a neighbor with a rapidly expanding nuclear arsenal and deepening alliance with Russia.

The two-day visit that begins Monday marks Xi’s first to Pyongyang in seven years, and comes just weeks after he hosted US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Beijing for high-profile summits in quick succession.

Xi’s trip underscores his efforts to remind the world — and Kim — that Beijing remains Pyongyang’s most important political patron and economic lifeline — even ...