Yvette Tan
Live editor

Xi Jinping's last visit to Pyongyang took place in 2019 - the first meeting between Kim and Xi to have taken place in North Korea.

But a lot has changed in the past seven years.

In 2022, Russia launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine. Four years on, the war is still raging on - and it's brought Pyongyang and Moscow closer than ever.

An estimated 11,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to fight against Ukraine, and it is believed that in return for providing soldiers, Pyongyang received food, money and technical help from Moscow.

"What has changed is that Kim has consolidated ties with Russia, given the supply of troops and ammunition. That perhaps makes Pyongyang less reliant on [China], since they can secure oil, gas, and other raw materials confidently from Russia," said Professor Ian Chong of the National University of Singapore.

Russia aside, Kim also appears to be "exploring different directions" for his external policies, like "moving away from unification with South Korea".

Pyongyang recently revised its constitution to remove any references to reunification with the South, underscoring its push for a more hostile policy torwards Seoul.