ID :
183460
Sat, 05/21/2011 - 10:13
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https://oananews.org//node/183460
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N. Korean leader tours car factory in China's northeast
(2nd LD) CHANGCHUN, China, May 21 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il toured a car factory in the northeast Chinese city of Changchun on Saturday on the second day of his secret trip to China, a source here said.
Kim traveled to the factory of FAW, China's second-largest automaker by sales, after arriving at Changchun's train station Saturday morning, the source told Yonhap News Agency.
Kim then checked into the city's South Lake Hotel, the source said, without giving any further details. The source asked not to be identified, citing the issue's sensitivity.
In August last year, Kim held summit talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the same hotel, though it was not immediately clear whether they will meet again there.
The two sides have kept secret Kim's itinerary and schedule during his trip. Pyongyang and Beijing usually confirm the reclusive leader's trips only after he returns home, apparently due to security concerns.
Kim arrived in the Chinese border city of Tumen early Friday before heading to Mudanjiang in northeast China in his third trip to China in a little more than a year. He visited China in early May and late August last year.
The trip comes as Kim, who inherited power from his father, the North's founder Kim Il-sung, is grooming his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as his successor to the communist state.
The 69-year-old leader has accelerated steps to extend his family dynasty into a third generation since he suffered a stroke in 2008. He named Jong-un vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party and a four-star general last September.
Many had previously believed that the junior Kim would accompany his father or visit China alone in a trip apparently aimed at winning Beijing's support for the power succession plan and boosting economic cooperation.
However, the junior Kim was not on an official list of the North's entourage with about 70 members, an indication that he may not be traveling with his father.
Personal details about Kim Jong-un remain scarce. North Korea almost never confirms outside reports concerning its leadership. Quoting high-level defectors and intelligence sources, South Korean media have said the round-faced young man graduated from a military college in North Korea after spending part of his teens in Switzerland. He is also known for his admiration for retired NBA star Michael Jordan.
Also Saturday, leaders of South Korea, China and Japan toured Japan's Fukushima City, home to a crippled nuclear power plant, ahead of their annual tripartite summit in Tokyo on Sunday. North Korea is expected to be on the agenda for talks between the leaders of South Korea and China on the sidelines of the trilateral summit.
Separately, the foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan met Friday in Tokyo to discuss Kim's trip and stalled talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs, according to a Foreign Ministry official in Seoul. The official did not elaborate and asked not to be identified as he was not authorized to speak to media.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters Friday that he did not have much to comment on Kim's trip, noting Washington doesn't have any confirmation.
Toner, however, said Washington will send a delegation to North Korea next week to assess the food situation and discuss human rights conditions in the North.
There are no signs of progress in international efforts to resume the stalled disarmament-for-aid talks that involve the two Koreas, host China, the U.S., Japan and Russia.
The North has expressed its willingness to rejoin the nuclear talks that it quit in 2009, but Seoul and Washington demand Pyongyang first demonstrate its denuclearization commitment by action.
Seoul also wants Pyongyang to apologize for its two deadly attacks on the South last year that killed a total of 50 South Koreans, mostly soldiers.
(END)
Kim traveled to the factory of FAW, China's second-largest automaker by sales, after arriving at Changchun's train station Saturday morning, the source told Yonhap News Agency.
Kim then checked into the city's South Lake Hotel, the source said, without giving any further details. The source asked not to be identified, citing the issue's sensitivity.
In August last year, Kim held summit talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the same hotel, though it was not immediately clear whether they will meet again there.
The two sides have kept secret Kim's itinerary and schedule during his trip. Pyongyang and Beijing usually confirm the reclusive leader's trips only after he returns home, apparently due to security concerns.
Kim arrived in the Chinese border city of Tumen early Friday before heading to Mudanjiang in northeast China in his third trip to China in a little more than a year. He visited China in early May and late August last year.
The trip comes as Kim, who inherited power from his father, the North's founder Kim Il-sung, is grooming his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as his successor to the communist state.
The 69-year-old leader has accelerated steps to extend his family dynasty into a third generation since he suffered a stroke in 2008. He named Jong-un vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party and a four-star general last September.
Many had previously believed that the junior Kim would accompany his father or visit China alone in a trip apparently aimed at winning Beijing's support for the power succession plan and boosting economic cooperation.
However, the junior Kim was not on an official list of the North's entourage with about 70 members, an indication that he may not be traveling with his father.
Personal details about Kim Jong-un remain scarce. North Korea almost never confirms outside reports concerning its leadership. Quoting high-level defectors and intelligence sources, South Korean media have said the round-faced young man graduated from a military college in North Korea after spending part of his teens in Switzerland. He is also known for his admiration for retired NBA star Michael Jordan.
Also Saturday, leaders of South Korea, China and Japan toured Japan's Fukushima City, home to a crippled nuclear power plant, ahead of their annual tripartite summit in Tokyo on Sunday. North Korea is expected to be on the agenda for talks between the leaders of South Korea and China on the sidelines of the trilateral summit.
Separately, the foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan met Friday in Tokyo to discuss Kim's trip and stalled talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs, according to a Foreign Ministry official in Seoul. The official did not elaborate and asked not to be identified as he was not authorized to speak to media.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters Friday that he did not have much to comment on Kim's trip, noting Washington doesn't have any confirmation.
Toner, however, said Washington will send a delegation to North Korea next week to assess the food situation and discuss human rights conditions in the North.
There are no signs of progress in international efforts to resume the stalled disarmament-for-aid talks that involve the two Koreas, host China, the U.S., Japan and Russia.
The North has expressed its willingness to rejoin the nuclear talks that it quit in 2009, but Seoul and Washington demand Pyongyang first demonstrate its denuclearization commitment by action.
Seoul also wants Pyongyang to apologize for its two deadly attacks on the South last year that killed a total of 50 South Koreans, mostly soldiers.
(END)
