Earlier this week, North Korea dictator Kim Jong Un made a surprise visit to China, supposedly upon Beijing’s request. While in Beijing, Un met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other high ranking officials. Un said he felt compelled to personally inform President Xi of the rapid diplomatic developments on the Korean Peninsula in recent weeks. He also stated he was committed to denuclearization but with conditions. Un hoped to improve bilateral relations and Xi accepted an invitation to visit North Korea at some point in the future. Un has not met with another foreign leader since he took power in 2011, and this meeting may indicate Korea’s need for support from their closest ally.

While in China, Un presented himself as confident, reasonable and willing to bargain. The surprise visit to Beijing was an effective reminder of how much Un has set the agenda in the crisis over his nation’s nuclear arsenal. Un has yet to say what compromises he is willing to make or what he will demand from the United States in return in the near future.

President Xi and his wife also held a welcome banquet for Un’s family. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, Kim told his hosts that he chose China as his first overseas destination as leader to show “his will to carry forward the tradition of DPRK-China friendship, and how he valued the friendship between the two countries,” referring to North Korea by its formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Speculation has stirred that Un would not meet with US President Donald Trump before meeting with the Chinese President. Next month, Un is set up to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and will later meet with Trump. This potential meeting with Trump could be one of the most historic first encounters between a US President and a North Korean leader.