Shanghai visit for NK leader
Source: Agencies |
May 23, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il reportedly arrived in eastern China by train yesterday during his third trip in about a year to China.
And a visit to Shanghai is said to be on his schedule.
Kim, whose rare foreign trips are cloaked in secrecy, arrived late in the evening at Yangzhou's train station, the Yonhap news agency and YTN television network reported. Both cited unidentified sources in the city in Jiangsu Province.
Yonhap said Kim was expected to travel to a guesthouse and YTN said he was expected to stay in the city for about three days.
YTN said Kim would visit sites in Yangzhou linked to the solar power industry. It said he also plans to travel to Shanghai, which he visited in 2001 to look at China's economic reforms.
Kim rarely travels abroad, and his visits to China are seen as a means to shore up support for the economy.
North Korea in January appealed for urgent aid to feed its population and faces international pressure to end its nuclear weapons program.
China and North Korea want to resume the six-nation talks on the country's nuclear program, while fellow participants South Korea and the United States say North Korea must first exhibit sincerity toward disarmament.
US officials plan to visit North Korea this week to evaluate its food needs.
The United Nations says 6 million people in the country need emergency help after bad weather hit crops.
The visit to Yangzhou, a tourist spot on the Yangtze River, could have special symbolism for Kim. It comes 20 years after Chinese state media say his father and predecessor, North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, held talks there with China's then-president, Jiang Zemin.
On Saturday, Kim visited the industrial center of Changchun, Yonhap said. In August he met with Chinese President Hu Jintao there.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK obtained a grainy video appearing to show Kim in the northeastern Chinese city of Mudanjiang on Friday. He was shown shaking hands and waving to Chinese officials before getting into a limousine.
And a visit to Shanghai is said to be on his schedule.
Kim, whose rare foreign trips are cloaked in secrecy, arrived late in the evening at Yangzhou's train station, the Yonhap news agency and YTN television network reported. Both cited unidentified sources in the city in Jiangsu Province.
Yonhap said Kim was expected to travel to a guesthouse and YTN said he was expected to stay in the city for about three days.
YTN said Kim would visit sites in Yangzhou linked to the solar power industry. It said he also plans to travel to Shanghai, which he visited in 2001 to look at China's economic reforms.
Kim rarely travels abroad, and his visits to China are seen as a means to shore up support for the economy.
North Korea in January appealed for urgent aid to feed its population and faces international pressure to end its nuclear weapons program.
China and North Korea want to resume the six-nation talks on the country's nuclear program, while fellow participants South Korea and the United States say North Korea must first exhibit sincerity toward disarmament.
US officials plan to visit North Korea this week to evaluate its food needs.
The United Nations says 6 million people in the country need emergency help after bad weather hit crops.
The visit to Yangzhou, a tourist spot on the Yangtze River, could have special symbolism for Kim. It comes 20 years after Chinese state media say his father and predecessor, North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, held talks there with China's then-president, Jiang Zemin.
On Saturday, Kim visited the industrial center of Changchun, Yonhap said. In August he met with Chinese President Hu Jintao there.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK obtained a grainy video appearing to show Kim in the northeastern Chinese city of Mudanjiang on Friday. He was shown shaking hands and waving to Chinese officials before getting into a limousine.
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