US reaffirms shared NK denuclearization goal as Xi prepares Pyongyang visit

The State Department on Friday reaffirmed that President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping share a goal of denuclearizing North Korea, as Xi prepares for his first trip to Pyongyang since 2019.

The announcement, citing last month's Beijing summit, signals the Trump administration's continued effort to leverage Beijing's influence to bring North Korea back to nuclear talks — a development watched closely by Orange County's Korean-American community.

A State Department spokesperson told Yonhap News Agency on Friday that alignment on the Korean peninsula was established at the highest level. "In Beijing, President Trump and President Xi confirmed their shared goal to denuclearize North Korea," the spokesperson said, according to The Korea Times.

Xi's planned visit to the North Korean capital next Monday and Tuesday would be his first trip to Pyongyang since 2019. Washington has long viewed Beijing as a critical intermediary with a government that has remained largely absent from formal nuclear negotiations.

The Trump administration said it remains open to direct engagement with Pyongyang without preconditions. The State Department reiterated that posture ahead of Xi's trip, signaling U.S. hopes that China might encourage dialogue during the visit.

Trump and Xi met in Beijing last month — a summit that produced the shared denuclearization commitment the State Department highlighted Friday. The administration has stated its commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula remains firm.

Orange County's Korean-American community, many of whom maintain close personal and family ties to the Korean peninsula, has tracked U.S.-China diplomacy on North Korea with particular attention. For this community, movement in the triangular Washington-Beijing-Pyongyang dynamic carries meaning well beyond the geopolitical headlines.

North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency had not publicly commented on the agenda for Xi's upcoming visit as of Friday. No timetable has been announced for any direct talks between Washington and Pyongyang.