North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is visiting powerful ally China with his son and heir apparent, South Korean government sources said, ahead of a meeting next month that may settle his succession.
The visit comes ahead of a rare meeting of the Workers’ Party (WPK), which rubber stamps major policy decisions in the North. Analysts say the assembly could set in motion the succession of the leader’s son, Kim Jong-un.
“Kim Jong-il is traveling through China by train, but we have no information as to whether his son is accompanying him,” a presidential source said.
A South Korean foreign ministry source said there was evidence that both Kim and his son were in China.
Kim, his iron rule underpinned by a personality cult, rarely travels abroad. However, this would be the second time since May that he has gone to China on which he depends to prop up his country’s failing economy.
When he does travel, he always goes by private train and is thought to be terrified of flying.
There is widespread speculation that Kim is in poor health following a suspected stroke in 2008 and some analysts say he may be in a hurry to establish his son’s succession to the family dynasty that has ruled North Korea since its founding after World War II.
Daniel Pinkston, a specialist on Korean affairs in Seoul with the International Crisis Group, said a visit was most likely connected to next month’s WPK meeting.
“There is so much circumstantial evidence pointing to the succession issue. And there are other signs that they are hurting for cash aid and assistance. The two things are not mutually exclusive,” he said.
China’s foreign ministry had no immediate comment on his reported visit.
A policewoman at the Chinese border town of Jian said: “Some leader came yesterday,” but declined further comment on reports that the two Kims had traveled there on Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, former US president Jimmy Carter spent a second day in North Korea yesterday on a mission to bring home a Boston man jailed in the country since January.
US officials said Carter is making a private humanitarian visit to try to negotiate the release of Aijalon Gomes, sentenced to eight years of hard labor in a North Korean prison and fined some US$700,000 for entering the country illegally from China.
After securing Gomes’ release, Carter is expected to fly directly from Pyongyang to Boston with Gomes to reunite him with his family, a senior US official in Washington said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
However, there was no indication yesterday from Pyongyang on whether Carter had secured Gomes’ release, or who the former US leader was meeting. After arriving, he sat down for talks on Wednesday with No. 2 official Kim Yong-nam, TV news agency APTN reported.
It wasn’t clear whether Carter — who in 1994 famously had friendly talks with late North Korean leader Kim Il-sung — would meet with his son, Kim Jong-il.
US officials stress that Carter’s trip is an unofficial, private visit. However, visits like Carter’s — and the journey former president Bill Clinton made a year ago to secure the release of two US journalists — serve as more than just rescue missions. They also offer an opportunity for unofficial diplomacy between the US and North Korea, analysts say.
Gomes, who taught English in South Korea, was described by acquaintances as a devout Christian who may have followed an American friend, Robert Park, into North Korea. Park has said he crossed into the country deliberately in January to call attention to North Korea’s human rights record; he was expelled about 40 days later.
Last month, KCNA said Gomes, 31, attempted suicide, “driven by his strong guilty conscience, disappointment and despair at the US government that has not taken any measure for his freedom.”
US officials have pressed for his release on humanitarian grounds, but the State Department said officials who made a quiet trip to North Korea earlier this month failed to secure his release.
Gomes’ family is hoping North Korea will grant him amnesty, family spokeswoman Thaleia Schlesinger said.
“They certainly continue to be grateful to the government of North Korea for the care he was given the last couple of months since his suicide attempt,” she said.
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