GERMANY PERSPECTIVE

Berlin decodes the summit through a cold geopolitical lens: Xi's visit 'has mainly two audiences,' and neither is in Pyongyang. The first is Moscow, 'whose influence over North Korea breeds suspicion in Beijing'; the second is Washington, 'particularly with an eye on Taiwan.' The German press notes one telling symbolic detail: on Pyongyang's vast parade square, the giant portrait of Xi now hangs next to Kim's, in the exact spot where Vladimir Putin's hung in 2024 when he came on a state visit after a 24-year absence. The Beijing-Moscow rivalry for control of Kim is thus made visible, almost literally, on the walls of the North Korean capital. German coverage details the substance of the agreement: restoration of rail and air links, the opening of all border crossings, deeper cooperation 'in politics, economy, culture, science and the military' to inaugurate 'a new era.' But Germany, like Japan, flags the blind spot: any mention of North Korea's nuclear arsenal is absent from the communiqués. For Berlin, the summit illustrates Beijing's difficulty in 'tightening its grip' on an increasingly autonomous ally that plays Moscow and Beijing against each other.