Could it be Kim? Mystery
Speculation about a visit to Beijing by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un or another high-level Pyongyang official to China was running high last night amid talk of preparations for a meeting between the North’s reclusive leader and United States President Donald Trump.
The arrival of a special train in Beijing and unusually heavy security at a guesthouse where prominent North Koreans have stayed in the past have fuelled talk that Kim was making his first visit to China as the North’s leader.
Such a trip would be seen as a potential precursor to Kim’s planned summit with South Korean President Moon Jae In in late April and his anticipated meeting with Trump by May.
Analysts, however, questioned whether Kim would make the visit to Beijing himself rather than send an envoy.
While there has been no word of a meeting with Chinese leaders, China has been one of North Korea’s most important allies even though relations have chilled recently because of Kim’s development of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.
On Monday, heavy security was reported at the Friendship Bridge on the Yalu River marking the border between China and North Korea before a train passed. There were reports of it transitting several stations on the way from North Korea to Beijing.
Japanese broadcaster NTV reported that the green and yellow train appeared very similar to the one that Kim’s father and predecessor as North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Il, took to Beijing in 2011.
A video that aired on NTV also showed a motorcade of black limousines waiting at the train station