Attention is focused on the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun and the Tower of Friendship — sites visited by Chinese leaders on every trip to North Korea — ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit Monday through Tuesday. Pictured is the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun. [Getty Images]
Attention is focused on the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun and the Tower of Friendship — sites visited by Chinese leaders on every trip to North Korea — ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit Monday through Tuesday. Pictured is the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun. [Getty Images]

With Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to North Korea set for Monday through Tuesday, attention is turning to whether he will again call on the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun and the Tower of Friendship.

Both sites have been fixtures on the itinerary of every Chinese leader who has visited North Korea.

The Kumsusan Palace of the Sun — formerly known as the Kumsusan Palace — is the mausoleum where the bodies of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il lie in state, making it the most politically sacred site in the country. As a place that symbolizes the sanctification of the Kim family, Chinese leaders have stopped there on every visit as a gesture of respect for and recognition of the North Korean system's legitimacy.

The Tower of Friendship, built in 1959, is a monument honoring Chinese People's Volunteer Army soldiers who died fighting in the Korean War. Senior Chinese officials have laid wreaths there on every visit to Pyongyang.

A mass gymnastics and artistic performance — the large-scale spectacle unique to North Korea — is also expected to be staged as a welcoming gesture during Xi's visit. Mobilizing tens of thousands of participants, the performance has been a staple of North Korean hospitality for visiting Chinese leaders, typically featuring themes celebrating the North Korean system.

When President Jiang Zemin visited North Korea in September 2001, he met with then-National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-il on his first day in Pyongyang before visiting the Kumsusan Palace. The following day, he laid a wreath at the Tower of Friendship and watched a mass gymnastics and artistic performance with Kim at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang.

President Hu Jintao, who visited North Korea in October 2005, also called on the Kumsusan Palace on his first day and watched a mass gymnastics performance with Kim Jong-il the next day.

Xi visited North Korea in June 2008 as vice president. During his three-day, two-night trip, he made a point of visiting the Tower of Friendship and the International Friendship Exhibition House. At the Tower of Friendship, he drew notice by writing in the guestbook: "The friendship between North Korea and China will remain unchanged for eternity."

Xi's first visit to North Korea as president came in June 2019. Immediately after arriving in Pyongyang, he visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun and attended a large-scale welcoming ceremony in the palace square. He then held summit talks with Chairman Kim Jong-un at the Kumsusan State Guesthouse before moving to the May Day Stadium to watch the mass gymnastics performance. The following day, he visited the Tower of Friendship, had lunch with Kim, and returned to China.

A similar schedule is expected this time. Also among the sites Chinese leaders have occasionally visited during past trips to North Korea is the Hoechang County Martyrs' Cemetery in South Pyongan Province, which honors soldiers killed in the Korean War. The cemetery holds the remains of 134 Chinese soldiers, including Mao Anying — the eldest son of former Chairman Mao Zedong. Former Premier Zhou Enlai and former Premier Wen Jiabao paid their respects there on previous visits to the North.


kate01@heraldcorp.com