Bonus: Xi Jinping's North Korea visit

Having welcomed Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to Beijing, China's leader is making his first overseas trip of this year to North Korea.

It's Xi Jinping's first visit to Pyongyang in seven years, and he's visiting a nation bolstered by an increasingly close relationship with Russia, which has seen North Korean troops on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Why would a leader used to welcoming foreign dignitaries make the trip to a much smaller neigbour?

And what does North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un want from China?

Host Mariko Oi is joined by the BBC's China correspondent Laura Bicker and the Seoul correspondent Jake Kwon.

This episode was recorded on June 9th.

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