Kim in Beijing?
Overland train points to first trip abroad by North Korean leader, possibly to placate Beijing before US talks
Unusually high security in Beijing prompted speculation that North Korean leader Kim Jongun was making a surprise visit yesterday, after reports of a special train from Pyongyang being met by an honour guard.
It would mark Mr Kim’s first trip abroad since coming to power in 2011 and would be an intriguing twist in developments that have already led to planned summits with the presidents of South Korea and the United States.
Some analysts had suggested China, the North’s only major ally, had been sidelined by the overtures from Pyongyang to Seoul and Washington, but a visit by Mr Kim would put Beijing back at the centre.
Bill Bishop, publisher of the Sinocism China Newsletter, said it was likely President Xi Jinping wanted to meet Mr Kim before a summit with US President Donald Trump, which could take place in May. “They’re concerned about being left out, with the North Koreans directly cutting a deal with the Americans that doesn’t necessarily reflect Chinese interests,” he said.
A visit was first reported by the Kyodo News agency in Japan, quoting sources as saying that a high-ranking North Korean official had arrived in Beijing on Monday.
Nippon TV showed footage of a train, similar to that used for foreign visits by Mr Kim’s father Kim Jong-il, pulling into Beijing station and being met by a military honour guard and a convoy of black limousines.
At the Diaoyutai guest house, where Kim Jong-il stayed during his visits to Beijing, there was an unusually heavy police presence.
A motorcade of limousines left the guesthouse under a police escort yesterday morning.
There was also greater security at the Great Hall of the People and Zhongnanhai, the central leadership compound next
Nippon TV showed footage of a train, similar to that used for foreign visits by Mr Kim’s father Kim Jong-il, pulling into Beijing station
to Beijing’s Forbidden City.
There was no mention of a visit from Chinese or North Korean state media, however, and a Chinese Foreign Ministry official said it was “not aware of the situation”.
China’s Weibo microblog censored searches for Kim Jong-un’s name yesterday. Beijing often tightens news controls during sensitive political periods. South Korean broadcaster SBS TV said guests at a hotel in the border city of Dandong, overlooking the train link from China to North Korea, had been asked to leave and curtains were drawn across the hotel windows. The hotel will resume bookings today.
Kim Jong-il, who was afraid of flying, visited China several times on his private armoured train. His visits were confirmed by Chinese and North Korean state media only after he had left the country.
His son has yet to host a head of state, having snubbed the president of Mongolia who visited Pyongyang in 2013.
The White House was unable to confirm Mr Kim’s presence in Pyongyang and South Korea said it was closely monitoring the situation.
For decades Beijing has been Pyongyang’s key diplomatic protector and source of trade and aid, but their relationship has soured in recent years.
Mr Kim broke with tradition by not travelling to Beijing to pay his respects to Mr Xi after the Chinese leader came to power, and Beijing has become increasingly frustrated with its neighbour’s nuclear weapons programme, showing a new willingness to agree to and enforce tougher UN sanctions.
At the same time, Beijing fears the collapse of the government in Pyongyang and the instability it would bring, possibly sending waves of refugees into China and the possibility of US troops stationed on its border in a unified Korea.
High-level inter-Korean talks are scheduled for tomorrow to pave the way for a summit between Mr Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in in late April. Discussions have also started on a possible meeting with Mr Trump in May.