Yonhap says Kim Jong Un arrived in Dandong

Yonhap reported on Saturday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made an unannounced trip into China, arriving in the border city of Dandong a day before the 76th anniversary of China's entry into the Korean War.

Why it matters: The trip, if confirmed, would be Kim's first to China since September 2025 and follows Xi Jinping's June visit to Pyongyang, and it lands as Washington pushes to resume dialogue with Pyongyang within the year, a day after Seoul proposed military talks with the North.

Data as of Yonhap News Agency reports of October 24, 2026, in Korean and English, both read in full; the two reports differ on the crossing, the Korean report citing a government source for arrival via the New Yalu River Bridge and the English report describing a special train, and each version is attributed in the text. Kyodo News report of October 24, 2026, read in full via Seoul Economic Daily, for the Dandong traffic controls and hotel restrictions. Neither Beijing nor Pyongyang had announced or confirmed the trip as of publication. Developing item.

Latest: Yonhap’s Korean report, citing a government source, said Kim arrived in Dandong via the New Yalu River Bridge, the four-lane crossing between Dandong and Sinuiju that officially opened on October 15, twelve years after its completion, while Yonhap’s English report described Kim entering Dandong by special train on the route of his 2018 and 2019 China trips, with a possible meeting with President Xi Jinping and Korean War memorial events in Beijing. Yonhap noted the sudden trip comes ahead of the APEC meeting in Shenzhen, at a time when President Donald Trump is pushing to resume dialogue with North Korea within the year, and that the travel itself shows Kim in good health after recent rumors of his death, which South Korean intelligence had rejected on October 23.

Yonhap reported on Saturday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a surprise trip to China, arriving in the border city of Dandong in Liaoning province on a visit neither Pyongyang nor Beijing announced in advance. Kyodo News, citing diplomatic sources, reported strict traffic controls in parts of Dandong on Saturday with hotel bookings in the area unavailable, measures it linked to a visit by a senior North Korean official ahead of October 25, the 76th anniversary of China’s entry into the Korean War. Neither Chinese nor North Korean state media had confirmed Kim’s travel as of Saturday.

Yonhap says Kim Jong Un arrived in Dandong

Sources