Xi supports North Korea's direction on issues ahead of visit

FILE - In this June 19, 2018, file photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, poses with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for a photo during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Chinese state media say President Xi Jinping will make a state visit to North Korea this week. State broadcaster CCTV said in its evening news program on Monday that Xi will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a visit Thursday and Friday. (Ju Peng/Xinhua via AP, File)

People watch a TV news program reporting about Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to North Korea with file footage of Xi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, June 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Chinese President Xi Jinping says North Korea is taking the "right direction" by politically resolving issues on the Korean Peninsula in a rare op-ed published by a North Korean state newspaper a day ahead of Xi's visit to Pyongyang to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Xi didn't mention stalled nuclear weapons talks between Washington and Pyongyang in the Rodong Sinmun article Wednesday. He said that his visit would "strengthen strategic communication and exchange" between the traditional allies.

Xi will visit North Korea on Thursday and Friday. Kim met Xi four times in China last year during a diplomatic outreach that also involved meetings with the leaders of the United States and South Korea.