ID :
191597
Tue, 06/28/2011 - 15:53
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/191597
The shortlink copeid
N. Korean leader likely to arrive in Russia on Wednesday: sources
(ATTN: CHANGES headline; UPDATES in first 6 paras with quotes; AMENDS dateline; TRIMS)
MOSCOW/SEOUL/TOKYO (Yonhap) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will likely arrive in Russia's Far East on Wednesday, sources said, amid foreign news reports that Kim may travel to the northern neighbor for summit talks with President Dmitry Medvedev.
The 69-year-old North Korean leader is expected to travel by train and pass through a station in the Russian settlement of Khasan on the border with North Korea on Wednesday, a Russian government source in the region said on the condition of anonymity.
"Russian railway authorities are getting prepared," the source said, without elaborating on Kim's expected time of arrival or the planned date for the summit talks.
The Khasan station is the first Russian station that Kim will pass through if he crosses the border on a rail bridge across the Tumen River.
Another Russian government source in Moscow confirmed that the Far Eastern regions are preparing for Kim's visit, but expressed reservations about the two leaders' meeting taking place.
"The situation is always subject to change, so we can't be sure that summit talks will be held between Russia and North Korea," he said.
Earlier in the day, Japan's Kyodo News agency reported that the leaders are scheduled to meet on Thursday in the suburbs of Russia's Far Eastern city of Vladivostok. The report followed an earlier article in Japan's Mainichi Shimbun that said North Korea and Russia are in final consultations to hold the summit in Vladivostok on Friday. It quoted multiple intelligence sources in Moscow.
The trip, if realized, would be Kim's first visit to the Cold War ally since 2002. The Pyongyang-Moscow ties have apparently withered as Russia has improved relations with South Korea and Western nations.
Through the upcoming summit talks, Russia hopes to bolster ties with North Korea in the interest of regional security, and the North wants economic assistance, according to the Japanese daily.
Kim, known to dislike air travel due to security concerns, is expected to cross the border aboard his special train early Friday morning, it said.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Byung-jae told reporters the government was "closely watching the situation with various possibilities in mind," adding that his ministry had no information on the possibility of Kim's visit to Russia.
South Korea's top diplomat said earlier that he had no information on the possibility of Kim's first trip outside North Korea since he visited China in May.
"These days, Japanese media reports have the tendency of not being accurate," Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said Friday during his trip to Washington, when asked whether Kim will travel to Russia soon.
MOSCOW/SEOUL/TOKYO (Yonhap) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will likely arrive in Russia's Far East on Wednesday, sources said, amid foreign news reports that Kim may travel to the northern neighbor for summit talks with President Dmitry Medvedev.
The 69-year-old North Korean leader is expected to travel by train and pass through a station in the Russian settlement of Khasan on the border with North Korea on Wednesday, a Russian government source in the region said on the condition of anonymity.
"Russian railway authorities are getting prepared," the source said, without elaborating on Kim's expected time of arrival or the planned date for the summit talks.
The Khasan station is the first Russian station that Kim will pass through if he crosses the border on a rail bridge across the Tumen River.
Another Russian government source in Moscow confirmed that the Far Eastern regions are preparing for Kim's visit, but expressed reservations about the two leaders' meeting taking place.
"The situation is always subject to change, so we can't be sure that summit talks will be held between Russia and North Korea," he said.
Earlier in the day, Japan's Kyodo News agency reported that the leaders are scheduled to meet on Thursday in the suburbs of Russia's Far Eastern city of Vladivostok. The report followed an earlier article in Japan's Mainichi Shimbun that said North Korea and Russia are in final consultations to hold the summit in Vladivostok on Friday. It quoted multiple intelligence sources in Moscow.
The trip, if realized, would be Kim's first visit to the Cold War ally since 2002. The Pyongyang-Moscow ties have apparently withered as Russia has improved relations with South Korea and Western nations.
Through the upcoming summit talks, Russia hopes to bolster ties with North Korea in the interest of regional security, and the North wants economic assistance, according to the Japanese daily.
Kim, known to dislike air travel due to security concerns, is expected to cross the border aboard his special train early Friday morning, it said.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Byung-jae told reporters the government was "closely watching the situation with various possibilities in mind," adding that his ministry had no information on the possibility of Kim's visit to Russia.
South Korea's top diplomat said earlier that he had no information on the possibility of Kim's first trip outside North Korea since he visited China in May.
"These days, Japanese media reports have the tendency of not being accurate," Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said Friday during his trip to Washington, when asked whether Kim will travel to Russia soon.
