Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit North Korea for first time

June 17 (UPI) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time will make an official visit to North Korea this week, state-run media said Monday.

Xi will visit Pyongyang Thursday and Friday at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. North Korea said in January Xi had accepted an invitation by Kim but a date was not announced.

Hu Jintao was the last Chinese president to visit North Korea when he spent three days there in 2005. Kim has visited China four times since taking over rule in 2011, the most recent in January.

Xi and Kim will meet ahead of Xi's attendance at the G20 summit in Japan next week.

The visit comes as China is involved a trade conflict with the United States, while North Korea and the Trump administration failed to come to an agreement over the Pyongyang's nuclear program during February's summit in Vietnam.