Vantor 于 May 30 拍摄的卫星影像似乎显示，平壤市中心的 Kim Il Sung Square 出现新建设；该广场是用于军事阅兵、大型庆典和接待外国领导人的重要公共场所。围起来的区域和建筑在约 1 个月前的影像中并不存在，引发外界猜测中国国家主席 Xi Jinping 可能很快访问 North Korea，这将是他 6 年多来首次访朝。该广场同一区域曾在 Kim Jong Un 于 June 2024 接待 Vladimir Putin，以及 Alexander Lukashenko 于 2026 访问平壤时用作凉亭，而 North Korea 下一个主要日程事件是 June 25 的 1950 年 Korean War 爆发周年。
South Korea 的 Yonhap News agency 报导称，Xi 最早可能于 early June 访问，但 China 和 North Korea 都尚未正式宣布任何行程。如果成行，这将是 Xi 在 2026 年首次出访 China 境外，此前他曾在北京接待 Donald Trump 和 Vladimir Putin。Xi 上次访问平壤是在 2019 年，当时他承诺在 Korean Peninsula denuclearization 中发挥积极作用，但在 Kim-Trump 会谈未能对 North Korea 核武器计划形成具体限制后，外交进程停滞。Singapore 外长 Vivian Balakrishnan 发布了一段近期访问 North Korea 的影片，显示广场上有建筑材料；此外，中国外长 Wang Yi 在 6 年来首次访问 North Korea 期间会见 Kim，之后相关猜测进一步增加。
这一可能的访问发生之际，North Korea 已大幅现代化其导弹库，并扩大了生产核武器裂变材料的能力。国营媒体于 Thursday 发布照片，显示 Kim 视察一座配有离心机阵列的新铀浓缩设施，专家预计将分析这些照片以估算产量。这些展示表明，North Korea 的核计划已远远超越 2019 年的外交背景，强化了 Kim 的地缘政治地位，也使外界怀疑外部大国是否能提供足够条件来扭转平壤的核野心。China 仍是 North Korea 最大的支持者和贸易伙伴，在制裁下提供经济生命线，而 Kim 于 September 前往北京与 Xi 和 Putin 一同参加军事阅兵，进一步强化了他将 North Korea 呈现为重要全球行为者的努力。
Satellite imagery from Vantor dated May 30 appears to show new construction in Kim Il Sung Square in central Pyongyang, a prominent public venue used for military parades, mass celebrations, and receptions for foreign leaders. The fenced-off area and structure were absent in images from about 1 month earlier, prompting speculation that Chinese President Xi Jinping may soon visit North Korea for the first time in more than 6 years. The same section of the square was used for a gazebo when Kim Jong Un hosted Vladimir Putin in June 2024 and when Alexander Lukashenko visited Pyongyang in 2026, while North Korea’s next major calendar event is the June 25 anniversary of the start of the Korean War in 1950.
South Korea’s Yonhap News agency reported that Xi could visit as early as early June, though neither China nor North Korea has formally announced any trip. If it occurs, it would be Xi’s first trip outside China in 2026, after he hosted Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Beijing. Xi last visited Pyongyang in 2019, when he pledged to play a positive role in Korean Peninsula denuclearization, but diplomacy stalled after Kim-Trump talks failed to produce concrete limits on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Speculation increased after Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan posted a video from a recent North Korea visit showing construction material in the square, and after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Kim during his first North Korea visit in 6 years.
The possible visit comes as North Korea has substantially modernized its missile arsenal and expanded its capacity to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons. State media on Thursday released photos of Kim inspecting a new uranium-enrichment facility with centrifuge arrays, which experts are expected to analyze for production estimates. These displays suggest North Korea’s nuclear program has advanced far beyond the diplomatic context of 2019, strengthening Kim’s geopolitical position and raising doubts that outside powers can offer enough to reverse Pyongyang’s atomic ambitions. China remains North Korea’s largest benefactor and trade partner, providing an economic lifeline under sanctions, while Kim’s September trip to a Beijing military parade with Xi and Putin reinforced his effort to present North Korea as an important global actor.