TEHRAN, March 27 - Events are unfolding quickly on the Korean peninsula with planned summits between North and South Korea and the United States, a presidential official in Seoul said on Tuesday, amid reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is in China.
TEHRAN,Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Bloomberg, citing three unidentified sources, reported on Monday that Kim was in Beijing in what would be his first known trip outside North Korea since taking power in 2011. The unconfirmed visit also comes ahead of a potential summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
“The presidential Blue House is watching things in Beijing very closely, while keeping all possibilities open,” said the senior official in Seoul, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Improving bilateral ties between North Korea and China would be a positive sign before the planned summits, he said.
A Reuters reporter saw a convoy leave Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guest House, where senior foreign leaders often stay on visits to the Chinese capital, and drive north on Tuesday morning. It was unclear where the convoy was headed.
Diplomatic sources in Beijing said it was likely Kim was in China, but they could not confirm it definitively.
Underscoring the mystery surrounding the trip, one senior Beijing-based diplomatic source told Reuters simply: “We just don’t know”.
One source with ties to China’s leadership said it was possible Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, was in the city. She visited South Korea for the Winter Olympics last month, paving the way for a summit between the two Koreas.
South Korean news agency Newsis reported that Kim Yo Jong and the North’s ceremonial leader, Kim Yong Nam, were visiting Beijing, citing an unidentified North Korea-related source in Beijing.
The pair visited South Korean President Moon Jae-in at his office in Seoul during the Winter Olympics in February.
Source: Reuters
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