N. Korea's Kim to make official visit to Vietnam in 'coming days'
HANOI, Feb 23 (AFP) - North Korea's Kim Jong Un will soon make an official visit to Vietnam, Hanoi said Saturday as it beefed up security on the Chinese border where Kim is expected to cross by train ahead of his summit with US President Donald Trump next week.
Vietnam is hastily preparing for a second summit between Trump and Kim on February 27- 28 in Hanoi, and sources have said the North Korean leader is likely to arrive ahead of the meeting for an official visit and to tour industrial zones.
“Kim Jong Un will pay an official visit to Vietnam in the coming days,” Vietnam's foreign ministry said Saturday in a post on its Facebook page, without providing dates.
Pyongyang has not yet publicly confirmed the summit with Trump, and routinely keeps Kim's travel plans shrouded in secrecy.
Several sources told AFP Kim is expected to arrive in Vietnam by train ahead of the summit, stopping at the Dong Dang train station near the China border and driving 170 kilometres (105 miles) to Hanoi by car.
Vietnam on Friday announced the unprecedented move of closing the stretch of road from the station to Hanoi on February 26 between 6:00 am and 2:00 pm, state media reported, suggesting Kim could travel on the road between those hours.
Soldiers were deployed to the Dong Dang train station on Saturday and along the road to Hanoi, according to AFP reporters at the scene, who spotted several military vehicles and communications equipment in the area.
“We are doing security sweeps all the way from Dong Dang to Hanoi and we have to finish by February 24. We are working on orders for the arrival of an important delegation,” a soldier told AFP, requesting anonymity. Security personnel tried to prevent anyone from taking photos and videos in the area and soldiers screened everyone who entered the Dong Dang station.
The 4,000km journey from Pyongyang to Vietnam via Beijing could take two and a half days in Kim's armoured train, which is reportedly outfitted with conference rooms and sleeping chambers.