North Korean leader Kim Jong-il hosted a dinner party for the new Chinese ambassador to North Korea, state media said yesterday, amid reports that the reclusive leader is set to visit Beijing.
The dinner on Saturday was attended by top North Korean party and military officials, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
When Kim appeared with new Chinese ambassador Liu Hongcai (劉洪才), “all the participants warmly welcomed him with highest tribute,” it said.
“They expressed the steadfast will of the parties and peoples of the two countries to further develop and consolidate generation after generation,” the agency said.
The dinner also fuelled speculation that Kim’s anticipated visit to Beijing is being delayed, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said, but local television reports did not rule out the possibility of a trip this week.
South Korean officials said last week there was a “high level of possibility” that Kim would visit China soon. Kim previously traveled by train to China in 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2006. He reportedly dislikes flying.
Yonhap quoted intelligence officials in Seoul last week as saying that an advance team of North Korean officials may already be in China to lay the groundwork for Kim’s trip.
Analysts said such a trip would be aimed at seeking badly needed economic aid from China, for which the North may feel bound to return to long-stalled six-nation nuclear disarmament talks.
China is North Korea’s main ally and its most important source of food and energy.
“KCNA’s report clearly suggests Kim is still in Pyongyang. I believe the report is aimed at dispelling rampant speculation about him,” said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor at Dongguk University in Seoul. “Yet Kim’s trip to Beijing is still possible this week or later.”
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