PRESIDENT XI TO VISIT NORTH KOREA

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North Korea and China have announced that Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to North Korea this week. This is the first time Xi will visit North Korea since he became president. Here's more.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping will make a two-day state visit to North Korea from June 20 to 21. The visit comes after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un extended an invitation. Last night, North Korea and China simultaneously issued an official announcement of Xi's visit plan.

[Soundbite] KOREAN CENTRAL TV(NORTH KOREA) : "Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea from June 20 to 21 at the invitation of Chairman Kim Jong-un."

This is the first time Xi will visit North Korea since he took office as president in 2013. He will be the fourth Chinese president to visit the North, following Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. Back in June, 2008, Xi made a three-day visit to Pyongyang as vice president and held a meeting with the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. This will be Xi's first visit to North Korea in eleven years. However, Pyongyang and Beijing have not yet elaborated on a detailed schedule and purpose of the visit. Keen attention is being drawn to why Xi has decided to make the visit when tensions between the U.S. and China are escalating and denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington remain at a standstill. South Korea's presidential office soon confirmed the Chinese leader's plan to visit North Korea. Presidential spokeswoman Ko Min-jung said in text messages to reporters that the top office has been keeping a close eye on Xi's moves since last week with a tip-off about his possible visit to the North. She added that Xi's visit is expected to help a quick resumption of the denuclearization talks and promote permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.