N. Korean leader Kim Jong Un's months of ambitious summitry

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's fifth meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping continues his ambitious diplomatic outreach that has included summits with the leaders of the United States, South Korea and Russia in the past year and a half. Experts say Kim is attempting to form a united front with North Korea's main ally China to strengthen his leverage in the stalled nuclear negotiations with the United States.

Some key developments in Kim's diplomacy:

Jan. 1, 2018: Kim in his annual New Year's address calls for improved relations with South Korea and offers to send a delegation to the Winter Olympics.

FILE - In this March 27, 2018, file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, shakes hands with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China. Kim’s fifth meeting with Xi continues his ambitious diplomatic outreach that has included summits with the leaders of the United States, South Korea and Russia in the past year and a half. Experts say Kim is attempting to form a united front with North Korea’s main ally China to strengthen his leverage in the stalled nuclear negotiations with the United States. (Korean Central News AgencyKorea News Service via AP, File)

February 2018: Hundreds of North Koreans attend the Pyeongchang Games, including Kim's sister, who conveys her brother's desire for a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

March 7, 2018: A South Korean envoy returns from visiting Pyongyang and says Kim is willing to discuss his nuclear arsenal with Washington. Days later, President Donald Trump accepts Kim's invitation to meet.

March 27, 2018: Kim makes a surprise visit to Beijing to meet with Xi.

FILE - In this April 27, 2018, file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in raise their hands after signing on a joint statement at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea. Kim’s fifth meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping continues his ambitious diplomatic outreach that has included summits with the leaders of the United States, South Korea and Russia in the past year and a half. Experts say Kim is attempting to form a united front with North Korea’s main ally China to strengthen his leverage in the stalled nuclear negotiations with the United States. (Korea Summit Press Pool via AP, File)

April 21, 2018: North Korea says it has suspended nuclear and long-range missile tests and is shifting its focus to improving its economy. Trump tweets the move is "big progress!"

April 27, 2018: Kim meets Moon at the inter-Korean border and they make aspirational comments in favor of a nuclear-free peninsula and permanent peace.

May 7, 2018: Kim meets Xi again in China and calls for stronger strategic cooperation between them.

FILE - In this June 12, 2018 file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un at the Capella resort on Sentosa Island in Singapore. Kim’s fifth meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping continues his ambitious diplomatic outreach that has included summits with the leaders of the United States, South Korea and Russia in the past year and a half. Experts say Kim is attempting to form a united front with North Korea’s main ally China to strengthen his leverage in the stalled nuclear negotiations with the United States. (AP PhotoEvan Vucci, File)

May 9, 2018: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visits Pyongyang to prepare for the planned Trump-Kim meeting. North Korea frees three Americans who had been imprisoned.

May 24, 2018: North Korean diplomat Choe Son Hui releases a statement berating Vice President Mike Pence for his critical comments on the North and saying it was up to the Americans whether they would "meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown." Trump announces he's pulling out of his summit with Kim, citing the North's "tremendous anger and open hostility."

May 26, 2018: Kim and Moon meet at the inter-Korean border in an effort to revive the summit with Trump. Moon says Kim reaffirmed his commitment to denuclearize but also said he was unsure whether he could trust Washington to provide security guarantees in return.

FILE - In this April 25, 2019, file photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un shake hands during their meeting in Vladivostok, Russia. Kim’s fifth meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping continues his ambitious diplomatic outreach that has included summits with the leaders of the United States, South Korea and Russia in the past year and a half. Experts say Kim is attempting to form a united front with North Korea’s main ally China to strengthen his leverage in the stalled nuclear negotiations with the United States. (AP PhotoAlexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, File)

June 1, 2018: After meeting North Korean envoy Kim Yong Chol at the White House, Trump says his meeting with Kim Jong Un is back on.

June 12, 2018: Trump and Kim meet in Singapore, where they repeat the first inter-Korean summit's vague statement on the peninsula's denuclearization without describing when and how it will occur.

June 19, 2018: Kim visits Beijing for his third meeting with Xi, who praises the "positive outcome" of the Trump-Kim meeting.

FILE - In this May 9, 2019, file photo provided by the North Korean government, a missile is launched in the west coast in North Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s fifth meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping continues his ambitious diplomatic outreach that has included summits with the leaders of the United States, South Korea and Russia in the past year and a half. Experts say Kim is attempting to form a united front with North Korea’s main ally China to strengthen his leverage in the stalled nuclear negotiations with the United States. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News AgencyKorea News Service via AP, File)

Sept. 19, 2018: Kim and Moon hold their third summit in Pyongyang. The North says it's willing to permanently dismantle its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon if the United States takes corresponding measures.

Jan. 1, 2019: Kim in his New Year's speech says he hopes to continue his nuclear summitry with Trump, but also that he would seek a "new way" if the United States persists with sanctions and pressure against the North.

Jan. 8, 2019: Kim visits Beijing for his fourth summit with Xi, vows to "achieve results" on the nuclear standoff in his second meeting with Trump.

Feb. 8, 2019: Trump announces Hanoi, Vietnam, as the venue of his second summit with Kim.

Feb. 27-28, 2019: Trump and Kim's second summit breaks down over what the Americans describe as excessive North Korean demands for sanctions relief in exchange for partial disarmament steps limited to the Yongbyon complex.

April 13, 2019: Kim says he is open to another meeting with Trump, but sets the year's end as a deadline for Washington to offer mutually acceptable terms for an agreement to salvage the diplomacy.

April 25, 2019: Kim meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok. Putin says Kim would require strong security guarantees in order to abandon his nuclear program.

May 9, 2019: North Korea fires two short-range missiles toward the sea in its second launch in five days, ending a pause in ballistic testing. The launches are seen as measured efforts to dial up pressure on Washington and Seoul without actually causing the negotiations to collapse.

June 17, 2019: North Korea and China announce Xi will visit North Korea on Thursday and Friday.

DETROIT (AP) — The Oakland Athletics no longer have to wonder where they'll play the next few seasons. That won't make the long goodbye any easier.

The A's reacted to the announcement that this will be their last year in Oakland with a mixture of sadness and relief.

“At least as a player, you know where you’re headed,” outfielder Seth Brown said Friday before a game against the Tigers in Detroit. “There’s obviously a lot of moving parts, a lot of stuff we’re not privy to, so it’s just been kind of a waiting game on our end. Where are we going to go? Where are we going to be? So I think just having that knowledge -- at least we know where we’re going to be playing next year.”

Vivek Ranadivé, who owns the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, and Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher announced Thursday that the A’s will temporarily relocate to West Sacramento's Sutter Health Park for at least three seasons. The A's are moving to Las Vegas after a new ballpark is constructed.

The River Cats, who are affiliated with the San Francisco Giants, will continue to play at the same facility.

Fisher was unable to reach an agreement with Oakland city officials on extending the lease at Oakland Coliseum, which expires at the end of this season. The A's have played in the city since 1968.

“There's direction now, which we've talked a lot about,” Oakland A's manager Mark Kotsay said. “We've got time to kind of reflect on what this really means from an organizational standpoint, the history that we've had in Oakland, with this being now the final season. There's a lot of emotion that goes behind this.”

It will not only cause some upheaval for the players and staff but also members of the organization that work behind the scenes.

“At the end of the day, we know where we're going to be for the next three seasons after the finish this year and that in itself gives a little bit of stability,” Kotsay said. “At the same time, in the present, it's challenging in certain ways to think about the finality of this organization in Oakland.”

Sacramento will be a much smaller environment to house a major league team. Ranadivé said the River Cats venue currently seats 16,000 when counting the stands, the lawn behind center field and standing room only.

First baseman Ryan Noda is concerned with the facilities. He's hopeful that significant upgrades will be made, much like the Toronto Blue Jays did at Buffalo's Triple-A facility. The Blue Jays played at Buffalo's Sahlen Field in 2020 in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“New walls, new dugouts, new locker rooms — everything they needed to become a big league stadium,” said Noda, who played some games in Sacramento as a minor leaguer. “As long as we can do something like that, then it'll be all right. But it's definitely going to be different than playing in stadiums that hold 40,000 people.”

Kotsay is confident the upgrades will occur.

“I know it will be of major league baseball quality,” he said. “It's has to be of major league baseball quality. I know the Players Association will make sure that takes place, as they did in Buffalo.”

For the rest of this season, the A's will have to deal with small home crowds and disappointed fans.

“We’re sad for the fans, the diehard fans, who always come to our games, always support us, always support the boys wearing the jersey,” Noda said.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive, center, shakes hands John Fisher, owner of the Oakland Athletics, before the start of a news conference where Fisher announced his team will leave Oakland after this season and play temporarily at a minor league park, during a news conference in West Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, April 4 2024.The A's announced the decision to play at the home of the Sacramento River Cats from 2025-27 with an option for 2028 on Thursday after being unable to reach an agreement to extend their lease in Oakland during that time. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

John Fisher, owner of the Oakland Athletics baseball team, announces that his team will leave Oakland after this season and play temporarily at a minor league park, during a news conference in West Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, April 4, 2024. The A's announced the decision to play at the home of the Sacramento River Cats from 2025-27 with an option for 2028 on Thursday after being unable to reach an agreement to extend their lease in Oakland during that time. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Sutter Health Park, home of the Triple A team Sacramento River Cats, is shown in West Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, April 4, 2024. The Oakland Athletics announced the decision to play at the home of the Sacramento River Cats from 2025-27 with an option for 2028 on Thursday after being unable to reach an agreement to extend their lease in Oakland during that time. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Oakland Athletics manager Mark Kotsay walks to the dugout after making a pitching change during the eighth inning of the team's baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)