Is China's Xi worried that North Korea wants "to confront the U.S."?

World Did China's Xi visit North Korea because an emboldened Kim Jong Un wants "to confront the U.S."? By Anna Coren, Anna Coren Foreign correspondent Anna Coren, CBS News foreign correspondent based in Hong Kong, is an Emmy Award-winning international correspondent who covers the Asia-Pacific region. Read Full Bio Anna Coren, Tucker Reals Tucker Reals Editor Tucker Reals is CBSNews.com's foreign editor, based in the CBS News London bureau. He has worked for CBS News since 2006, prior to which he worked for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C., and London. Read Full Bio Tucker Reals June 10, 2026 / 11:43 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Hong Kong — Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up a two-day visit to North Korea on Tuesday by vowing to deepen ties and expand cooperation with Kim Jong Un. Xi called the summit a "new historical starting point."Beyond the optics and the carefully choreographed messaging from the Chinese and North Korean governments, experts say the real motivation for Xi's visit was to keep tabs on an emboldened Kim — his nuclear armed neighbor."Never before have the Chinese had to deal with a North Korea that has any swagger in its step," Bob Carlin, a former U.S. State Department official with more than 50 years of experience as a North Korea analyst, told CBS News on Wednesday. Chinese President Xi Jinping greets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as Xi Jinping departs following his state visit to Pyongyang, North Korea, June 10, 2026.  KCNA via REUTERS He said while North Korea has long felt "put upon by the big powers, that's not Kim's perspective these days.""Since 2023, Kim has completely changed the center of the strategic policy of North Korea," Carlin said. "For so many years it was to engage the U.S., normalize with the U.S. That's gone. They want to confront the U.S."Kim sees himself as "a leader in this movement, and sooner or later he's really going to have a reckoning with the Americans," Ca...