ID :
202488
Sat, 08/20/2011 - 18:43
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/202488
The shortlink copeid
N. Korean leader welcomed by Russian officials in border station
(ATTN: ADDS Kremlin's statement in paras 8-9)
SEOUL/MOSCOW, Aug. 20 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il arrived in the Russian Far East aboard a special train on Saturday on his first visit to the neighbor country since 2002, a government source in Seoul said.
Kim's train crossed the North Korean-Russian border early Saturday morning and stopped in the Russian border city of Khasan around 10 a.m., about two to three hours behind schedule, said the source.
"We understand Kim's special train pulled into Khasan Station at about 10 a.m. after crossing the North Korean border into Russia and that a welcoming ceremony was held there," the source said.
Another source in Vladivostok, citing a Khasan Station official, said that Kim was greeted by the Russian president's envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, Viktor Ishayev; Russian Far East Governor Sergei Darkin; and other local government officials at the rail station.
North Korea's official media also confirmed leader Kim's visit to Russia.
"Chairman Kim Jong-il of the National Defense Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) will pay an unofficial visit to Siberia and the Far Eastern region of the Russian Federation at the invitation of Dmitry Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation," said the North's Korean Central News Agency in a brief dispatch from Pyongyang Saturday.
"During the visit, the top leaders of the two countries will have a meeting," it said, without elaborating on the details, including on his itinerary while in Russia.
In Moscow, the Kremlin also confirmed Kim's visit in a short statement.
"The meeting with Mr. Medvedev is the main event on (Kim's) programme," it said without specifying when the meeting will take place.
Kim visited the Russian Far East in 2002 after making a 24-day trip to Moscow and other Russian cities in July 2001.
The reclusive leader traveled to China in May for the third visit to his country's closest ally in just over a year.
Kim is expected to visit a dam in Ussuriysk, 112 kilometers north of Vladivostok, after leaving Khasan, according to other sources well informed on relations between North Korea and Russia.
If Kim visits the Russian dam facilities, the two countries are then expected to open discussions on enhancing bilateral cooperation in energy.
Earlier in the day, an informed source in Moscow said Kim will hold summit talks with Medvedev in Ulan-Ude, the third-largest city in eastern Siberia, on Tuesday.
In this regard, a Russian Far Eastern news agency reported that the North Korean leader is expected to directly head to Ulan-Ude, located near Lake Baikal, to meet with Medvedev without stopping in other Russian cities.
A Seoul official says the North Korean leader may meet with both the Russian president and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin given that the length of his visit will be about a week.
The official said whether the North's successor-designate Kim Jong-un accompanied his father on the ongoing Russian trip remains unknown.
"Since the North Korean leader did not take his son with him during his latest trip to China, this time will highly likely be the same," he said.
The official also said it is unlikely for Kim to travel to Moscow this time given the short length of the trip.
(END)
SEOUL/MOSCOW, Aug. 20 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il arrived in the Russian Far East aboard a special train on Saturday on his first visit to the neighbor country since 2002, a government source in Seoul said.
Kim's train crossed the North Korean-Russian border early Saturday morning and stopped in the Russian border city of Khasan around 10 a.m., about two to three hours behind schedule, said the source.
"We understand Kim's special train pulled into Khasan Station at about 10 a.m. after crossing the North Korean border into Russia and that a welcoming ceremony was held there," the source said.
Another source in Vladivostok, citing a Khasan Station official, said that Kim was greeted by the Russian president's envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, Viktor Ishayev; Russian Far East Governor Sergei Darkin; and other local government officials at the rail station.
North Korea's official media also confirmed leader Kim's visit to Russia.
"Chairman Kim Jong-il of the National Defense Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) will pay an unofficial visit to Siberia and the Far Eastern region of the Russian Federation at the invitation of Dmitry Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation," said the North's Korean Central News Agency in a brief dispatch from Pyongyang Saturday.
"During the visit, the top leaders of the two countries will have a meeting," it said, without elaborating on the details, including on his itinerary while in Russia.
In Moscow, the Kremlin also confirmed Kim's visit in a short statement.
"The meeting with Mr. Medvedev is the main event on (Kim's) programme," it said without specifying when the meeting will take place.
Kim visited the Russian Far East in 2002 after making a 24-day trip to Moscow and other Russian cities in July 2001.
The reclusive leader traveled to China in May for the third visit to his country's closest ally in just over a year.
Kim is expected to visit a dam in Ussuriysk, 112 kilometers north of Vladivostok, after leaving Khasan, according to other sources well informed on relations between North Korea and Russia.
If Kim visits the Russian dam facilities, the two countries are then expected to open discussions on enhancing bilateral cooperation in energy.
Earlier in the day, an informed source in Moscow said Kim will hold summit talks with Medvedev in Ulan-Ude, the third-largest city in eastern Siberia, on Tuesday.
In this regard, a Russian Far Eastern news agency reported that the North Korean leader is expected to directly head to Ulan-Ude, located near Lake Baikal, to meet with Medvedev without stopping in other Russian cities.
A Seoul official says the North Korean leader may meet with both the Russian president and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin given that the length of his visit will be about a week.
The official said whether the North's successor-designate Kim Jong-un accompanied his father on the ongoing Russian trip remains unknown.
"Since the North Korean leader did not take his son with him during his latest trip to China, this time will highly likely be the same," he said.
The official also said it is unlikely for Kim to travel to Moscow this time given the short length of the trip.
(END)
