A special train from North Korea arouses speculation about a visit from North Korea’s ruler Kim Jong Un in Beijing. According to media reports, the train crossed the border at Dandong on Monday evening local time under tighter security arrangements. The South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh, referring to an undisclosed source, said that Kim is traveling to a fourth meeting with China’s state and party leader Xi Jinping.
The train is expected to arrive in the Chinese capital at around 10 am local time (3 pm CET) on Tuesday, reports the South Korean news agency Yonhap, which only spoke of a possible high North Korean government official on board. It could be ruler Kim, said nevertheless a diplomatic source of the Japanese news agency Kyodo.
In the Chinese border town of Dandong, dozens of armored vehicles and security forces had blocked the roads around the station in the meantime, the news agency Yonhap continued. According to Japanese news agency Kyodo, hotel guests in Dandong were forbidden to enter rooms overlooking the border in the afternoon.
Meeting with Trump as a possible topic
China is North Korea’s most important ally. Ruler Kim Jong Un visited the powerful neighbor three times last year to meet with head of state Xi Jinping. No trip had been announced in advance. The first visit in March came after the sightseeing of Kim’s armored train in Beijing. It was his first trip abroad since he came to power in 2011.
At a new meeting, both statesmen could vote on the upcoming second summit meeting of Kim with US President Donald Trump. The place is still under negotiation, Trump told journalists in Washington on Sunday. „It may be announced in the not too distant future.“ The dialogue with North Korea is going well, Trump assured. There is speculation that it could take place in Vietnam this time. An appointment is not fixed yet.
At their historic first summit in Singapore in June, Trump and Kim had generally agreed on the goal of nuclear disarmament on the Korean Peninsula. But concrete promises, until when the North Korean nuclear arsenal should be disarmed and what the counter-services of the United States could look like, have been missing so far.
