(LEAD) China's Xi to visit N. Korea next week: KCNA

SEOUL, June 5 (Yonhap) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea next week, Pyongyang's state media said Friday.

Xi will "pay a state visit" to North Korea on June 8-9 at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, without providing further details.

It will mark Xi's first visit to North Korea in nearly seven years.

Xi last traveled to Pyongyang on June 20-21, 2019, his first state visit to the reclusive North since taking office in late 2012. At that time, he had summit talks with North Korean leader Kim.

The two leaders last met in September, when Kim took a trip to Beijing for the 80th anniversary of China's Victory Day, where he and Russian President Vladimir Putin attended a military parade alongside Xi.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) holds hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Sept. 4, 2025, in this file photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency the next day. Kim visited the Chinese capital to attend a military parade marking the 80th anniversary the previous day of Japan's surrender and the end of World War II. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)