UPDATE 1-China's Xi may visit North Korea as early as next week, Yonhap reports

China is a key economic and political ally of ​North Korea and the two have made efforts to reinforce ⁠ties that had cooled during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chinese ​President Xi Jinping may ‌visit North ​Korea as early as next week, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported late on ‌Wednesday quoting a senior government official.

Another government source was cited as saying a team of Chinese security service and protocol officials were in Pyongyang ‌recently and that a visit by Xi late in ‌May or early June was likely. Xi, who hosted U.S. President Donald Trump last week, will try to act as a mediator between Trump and North Korean ⁠leader Kim ​Jong Un, ⁠the senior official was quoted as saying.

South Korea's foreign ministry did not immediately ⁠comment on the report. China is a key economic and political ally of ​North Korea and the two have made efforts to reinforce ⁠ties that had cooled during the COVID-19 pandemic. North Korean leader Kim visited Beijing ⁠last ​year and stood alongside Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a major military parade.

Trump, who met Kim three times ⁠in his first term to negotiate the North's nuclear programme, has said ⁠he would ⁠be open to meeting the North Korean leader again and that he had a good relationship with him.