Kim and the mystery of ‘green train’ in Beijing

Beijing, March 27 

A train believed to be carrying a senior North Korean delegation left the Chinese capital on Tuesday following a dramatic whirlwind visit that some reports said included the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un.

The conservative South Korea Chosun Ilbo newspaper, citing an unnamed senior intelligence official, said the delegation had included Kim and that he had since left to return to North Korea. Kim is reported to have held talks with the top Chinese leadership ahead of his planned summit with US President Donald Trump.

While the Foreign Ministry here parried questions over his reported visit which threw the road and rail traffic in Beijing out of gear, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted Chinese ‘sources’ confirming that Kim visited Beijing. “It wasn’t his sister, it was Kim himself,” the paper quoted a source as saying.

Kim is reported to have left by the “distinctive green train” to Pyongyang by which he had arrived earlier.

A beaming Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying parried a volley of questions about Kim’s visit at a packed daily briefing today, saying that she is not aware of his visit and would get back in “due course” if she gets the details. “If we have information, we will publish it,” Hua said.

The first hint that the mystery guest was Kim was the appearance of the green train of the type favoured by North Korea’s senior leadership, which was seen travelling from the border city of Dandong to Beijing, the Post reported.

Earlier, media personnel rushed to the plush Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, where foreign dignitaries usually stay as it was cordoned off with heavy security. Local people were told to avoid the area.

While reporters were held back behind a cordon a few hundred metres away, a motorcade reportedly carrying Kim was spotted passing by Tiananmen Square, apparently en-route to the Beijing railway station, it said.

North Korean leaders preferred to visit China, their closest ally, secretly or without much publicity through selective leaks by the Chinese officials. Kim’s late father Kim Jong-il too used to visit China secretly. This is Kim’s first overseas visit since he took over power in 2011 after his father’s death. — PTI

South Korea: Watching events closely

• South Korea said on Tuesday it was closely watching events that are unfolding rapidly in Beijing, where diplomatic sources said a senior North Korean official was visiting amid reports it was leader Kim Jong Un ahead of a series of historic summits.

• “The presidential Blue House is watching things in Beijing very closely, while keeping all possibilities open,” said  an official in Seoul. Improving bilateral ties between North Korea and China would be a positive sign before the planned summits, he said

• The Blue House official said the South Korean government had been aware of “related movements” in North Korea, such as the train, for a few days but he could not confirm whether Kim or another high-ranking North Korean official was visiting China

• Beijing is the main ally of secretive and isolated North Korea, as well as its biggest trading partner. China has not confirmed any visit by a North Korean but has not totally censored speculation Kim Jong Un might be in town