North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a northern Chinese port city and pledged his continuing commitment to denuclearization ahead of his expected summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, state media said Tuesday.
In this photo taken between May 7 and 8, 2018 released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, right speaks to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Dalian in northeastern China's Liaoning Province. (Ju Peng/Xinhua via AP)
The meeting Monday and Tuesday in Dalian is the second between Xi and Kim in recent weeks, following Kim's March visit to Beijing — his first since taking power six years ago.
In comments carried Tuesday night by Chinese state media, neither leader was quoted as directly referring to either the planned Trump meeting or Kim's summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in late last month.
However, state broadcaster CCTV quoted Xi as saying China "supports North Korea to stick to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and supports North Korea and the U.S. in solving the peninsula issue through dialogue and consultation."
Trump tweeted Tuesday that he planned to speak with Xi later in the day to discuss trade and North Korea, where he said "relationships and trust are building."
Kim was quoted as telling Xi that North Korea remains committed to denuclearization and has no need to possess nuclear weapons if a "relevant party" drops its "hostile policy and security threats" against it, a clear reference to the United States.
In this photo taken between May 7 and 8, 2018 released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, walks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a meeting in Dalian in northeastern China's Liaoning Province. (Ju Peng/Xinhua via AP)
"I hope to build mutual trust with the U.S. through dialogue," Kim was quoted as saying. A political resolution of tensions on the peninsula and denuclearization should proceed in stages, with all sides moving in concert, he said. The Trump administration has demanded that North Korea immediately commit to denuclearization.
The Kim-Xi meeting was the top news story in North Korea, with its most famous television announcer, Ri Chun Hui, again called out of her semi-retirement to report the event, underscoring its importance. Ri, wearing a traditional Korean-style dress, often smiled as she reported the news.
The report, which lasted about 20 minutes, did not show any photos or video of the visit.
Kim was accompanied by his younger sister, who has taken on an increasingly public role as the North Korean leader has tried to present a "softer" face to the outside world.
A passenger plane which is reportedly used for North Korean high-ranking officials, takes off from an airport in Dalian, China Tuesday, May 8, 2018. (Minoru Iwasaki/Kyodo News via AP)
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said there was a "deep exchange of opinions" between Kim and Xi on the changes around the Korean Peninsula that are "drawing the world's eyes and ears."
Kim offered his views on how North Korea and China would "firmly grasp the strategic opportunity," it said.
Though rumors are likely widespread, North Korea's media still have not explicitly confirmed the expected summit with Trump.
The recent South Korean summit and the potential U.S. talks have received more attention internationally, but China's role as an economic lifeline for North Korea makes the talks between Xi and Kim all the more crucial.
CORRECTS SECOND SENTENCE - A North Korea's Air Koryo plane lands in an airport in Dalian, China, Tuesday, May 8, 2018. (Minoru Iwasaki/Kyodo News via AP)
Kim needs to make sure that whatever negotiations he has with Trump align to some degree with Beijing's positions, which could certainly complicate his task ahead.
China's official Xinhua News Agency said Xi hosted a welcome banquet for Kim on Monday and the two leaders strolled along the coastline at a government guesthouse and had lunch together on Tuesday.
"At a crucial time when the regional situation is developing rapidly, Kim said he came to China again to meet with (Xi) and inform him of the situation," Xinhua said.
CCTV showed Xi wearing a western business suit and Kim in his standard high-collared Mao suit. They stood on a beach, sat under an awning on an outdoor deck, strolled through lush gardens and sat at a conference table.
"In a cordial and friendly atmosphere, the top leaders of the two parties and the two countries had an all-round and in-depth exchange of views on China-DPRK relations and major issues of common concern," Xinhua said, using the initials for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
China is North Korea's only major ally, although trade has plummeted in recent months as Beijing enforces United Nations economic sanctions in response to the North's nuclear bomb and ballistic missile tests.
China has also been eager to assert its importance in the process of lowering tensions on the Korean Peninsula. It has called for a halt to weapons tests and large-scale military exercises and a return to six-nation denuclearization talks it previously hosted in Beijing.
It was not known how long the Xi-Kim meeting had been planned or why Dalian was chosen. Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper cited two unidentified sources as saying that Xi had flown to Dalian on the coast east of Beijing to preside over the official launch of sea trials for China's first entirely self-built aircraft carrier.
Chinese internet users posting on social media described heavy security in the city and extensive flight delays on Monday. Others said they spotted a set of Red Flag limousines used by state leaders.
As with Kim's March visit to Beijing, his presence in Dalian was not officially confirmed until he had left China. Reports said his jet flew out of Dalian airport on Tuesday afternoon.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The man who broke into the home of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seeking to hold her hostage and bludgeoned her husband with a hammer was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison.
But prosecutors later filed a motion saying the court failed to offer the defendant, David DePape, an opportunity “to speak or present any information to mitigate the sentence" as required by federal rule. They asked the court to reopen the sentencing portion to allow him that option. The court did not immediately respond.
A jury found DePape, 44, guilty in November of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official. Prosecutors had asked for a 40-year prison term.
The attack on Paul Pelosi, who was 82 at the time, was captured on police body camera video just days before the 2022 midterm elections and sent shockwaves through the political world. He suffered two head wounds including a skull fracture that was mended with plates and screws he will have for the rest of his life. His right arm and hand were also injured.
Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley sentenced DePape to 20 years for attempted kidnapping and 30 years for the assault, the maximum for both counts. The sentences will run concurrently. He also was given credit for the 18 months he has been in custody.
In its afternoon motion to the court, the U.S. attorney's office said DePape was not given the opportunity by the court to speak before being sentenced and that could present an issue.
DePape's defense, however, said they opposed bringing back their client to court and filed a notice of appeal, according to the filing. Prosecutors and defense counsel did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment late Friday.
The court has 14 days to correct a sentence resulting from error, prosecutors said.
DePape stood silently as he was sentenced and looked down at times. His public defense attorneys had asked the judge to sentence him to 14 years, pointing out that he was going through a difficult period in his life at the time of the attack, had undiagnosed mental health issues and had no prior criminal history.
At trial, DePape testified that he had planned to wear an inflatable unicorn costume and record his interrogation of the Democratic speaker, who was not at her San Francisco home at the time of the attack, to upload it online.
Ahead of the sentencing, one of his defense attorneys, Angela Chuang, told the judge to consider the prison terms being given to those who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
"The five most serious sentences for people who were convicted of seditious conspiracy, of literally conspiring to overthrow the government, range from 15 to 22 years," Chuang said.
Corley said the Jan. 6 analogy didn’t adequately reflect the seriousness of breaking into an official's private home. The attack may have a chilling effect on people seeking office in the future, she said.
“They have to think not only, ‘Am I willing to take that risk myself, but am I willing to risk my spouse, my children, my grandchildren?’” the judge said.
Prosecutors asked for the maximum sentence on each count and for DePape to serve 10 years concurrently, giving him a 40-year prison term.
Before sentencing, Christine Pelosi read her father and mother's victim statements, explaining how the violent attack changed their lives. In Paul Pelosi's statement, he explained that 18 months after the attack, he still gets headaches and vertigo and has fainted and fallen twice at home.
“Once you are attacked in such a public and political manner, with such threatening language, you always have to fear a copycat,” Nancy Pelosi said in her statement. “When I encourage people, especially women to consider running for office, physical threats to the family should not even be a factor, but they are.”
Both Paul and Nancy Pelosi said there are still bloodstains on the floor and other signs of the break-in at their home.
“Our home remains a heartbreaking crime scene,” Nancy Pelosi wrote.
DePape admitted during trial testimony that he broke into the Pelosis’ home Oct. 28, 2022, intending to hold the speaker hostage and “break her kneecaps” if she lied to him. He also admitted to bludgeoning Paul Pelosi with a hammer after police showed up, saying his plan to end what he viewed as government corruption was unraveling.
Defense attorneys argued DePape was motivated by his political beliefs, not because he wanted to interfere with Nancy Pelosi’s official duties as a member of Congress, making the charges against him invalid.
Chuang, one of his attorneys, said during closing arguments that DePape was estranged from his family and was caught up in conspiracy theories.
Sky Gonzalez, David DePape’s son, told reporters outside court the 30-year prison term was equivalent to getting a death sentence.
“I think that’s quite sad. I think that’s a really long time, because if you think about it, he’s already nearly 50. Basically, it’s just a death sentence," Gonzalez said before repeating the same conspiracy theories his father wrote about before the attack.
At trial DePape, a Canadian who moved to the U.S. more than 20 years ago, testified that he believed news outlets repeatedly lied about former President Donald Trump. In rants posted on a blog and online forum that were taken down after his arrest, DePape echoed the baseless, right-wing QAnon conspiracy theory that claims a cabal of devil-worshipping pedophiles runs the U.S. government.
Prosecutors said he had rope and zip ties with him, and detectives found body cameras, a computer and a tablet.
Paul Pelosi recalled at the trial how he was awakened by a large man bursting into the bedroom and asking, “Where’s Nancy?” He said that when he responded that his wife was in Washington, DePape said he would tie him up while they waited for her.
“It was a tremendous sense of shock to recognize that somebody had broken into the house, and looking at him and looking at the hammer and the ties, I recognized that I was in serious danger, so I tried to stay as calm as possible,” Pelosi told jurors.
DePape also is charged in state court with assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, residential burglary and other felonies. Jury selection in that trial is expected to start Wednesday.
Sergio Lopez, acting assistant agent in charge of the FBI, speaks to reporters after the sentencing of David DePape in federal court Friday, May 17, 2024, in San Francisco. DePape was found guilty last November of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on Paul Pelosi, husband of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Sergio Lopez, acting assistant agent in charge of the FBI, speaks to reporters after the sentencing of David DePape in federal court Friday, May 17, 2024, in San Francisco. DePape was found guilty last November of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on Paul Pelosi, husband of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Gypsy Taub, ex-partner of David DePape, speaks to reporters after DePape's sentencing in federal court Friday, May 17, 2024, in San Francisco. He was found guilty last November of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on Paul Pelosi, husband of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
FILE - Paul Pelosi attends a portrait unveiling ceremony for his wife, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in Statuary Hall at the Capitol in Washington, Dec. 14, 2022. David DePape who was convicted last year in federal court of breaking into former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco home will be sentenced in federal court Friday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE – David DePape is seen, Dec. 13, 2013, in Berkeley, Calif. DePape convicted of attempting to kidnap then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and attacking her husband with a hammer is set to be sentenced in federal court Friday, May 17, 2024. (Michael Short/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, File)
FILE - In this image taken from San Francisco Police Department body-camera video, the husband of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Paul Pelosi, right, fights for control of a hammer with his assailant David DePape during a brutal attack in the couple's San Francisco home, on Oct. 28, 2022. DePape convicted of attempting to kidnap then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and attacking her husband with a hammer is set to be sentenced in federal court Friday, May 17, 2024. (San Francisco Police Department via AP, File)
