South Korea proposes military border talks after Kim's visit to China, calls trip aggressive

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made an unannounced one-day visit to the Chinese border city of Dandong on Saturday. According to South Korea's Unification Ministry, he crossed into China via a newly opened bridge connecting the two countries. This is Kim's first visit to China in more than a year.

According to China's state news agency Xinhua, Wang Huning, China's fourth-ranked leader, welcomed Kim and accompanied him throughout the visit. Wang stressed the need to expand people-to-people exchanges and economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

The visit comes weeks ahead of the APEC summit to be held next month in Shenzhen, southern China. Chinese President Xi Jinping is preparing to welcome leaders including US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the summit. Trump has already expressed his wish to meet Kim again.

South Korea has interpreted the visit as the latest step in Kim's aggressive foreign policy.

Meanwhile, South Korea's Ministry of National Defence on Friday proposed talks with North Korea on identifying the military demarcation line on the ground, restoring military communication links, and preventing accidental clashes. The ministry said a trilateral meeting including the UN Command could be held if needed. North Korea, for its part, has rejected South Korea's claims about a landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone.