BEIJING — North Korea’s reclusive leader Kim Jong Il arrived Monday in China, making a rare trip outside his hermit kingdom in search of money and support from his country’s last political patron.
The 68-year-old Kim, famously phobic about flying,
traveled in a style befitting one of the world’s last Cold War
dictators: on an armored train and in what was supposed to be complete
state secrecy. He and his retinue crossed the Yalu River separating North Korea and China and arrived at 5.20 a.m. in the border city of Dandong.
From there, he traveled to the port city of Dalian, where he was believed to be holed up in the luxury Furama Hotel, before traveling in the early evening to Beijing.
In keeping with Kim’s anachronistic style, the Chinese government
maintained a media blackout on the visit (in contrast to the many
photographs published of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and even more of his model wife, Carla Bruni, during a visit last week).
But it’s impossible to keep under wraps a
17-carriage armored train, not to mention the accompanying retinue of
limousines and a bus with Pyongyang
license plates that was reportedly following along. Roads alongside
Kim’s route were closed for much of the day Monday for security. South
Korean and Japanese press were stalking Kim Jong Il’s delegation
through China,
and a a Japanese television cameraman captured a shot of him in his
trademark khaki jacket and sunglasses. He is believed likely to meet
with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao and a succession of other Chinese officials.
Kim Jong Il has visited China four times since 2000 but not since 2006, when North Korea conducted its first nuclear test.
Kim badly needs Chinese money to prop up his faltering regime and, just as important, China’s clout in the international community, especially on the U.N. Security Council, to fend off crippling economic sanctions.
“To remain strong and withstand the pressure, the relationship with China is very important,” said Kim Keum-sik, a professor at South Korea’s Kyungnam University.
Kim is also looking for — but probably won’t get — China’s blessing to install his twentysomething youngest son as his successor. There was keen interest in whether the young man, Kim Jong Eun, would accompany his father to China
for an official introduction, but as of yet, he hadn’t been spotted in
the retinue. Kim is in poor health, recovering from a stroke, and
according to some reports suffering from kidney disease, diabetes and
possibly cancer.
“One gets the sense that the North Koreans are quietly looking for an endorsement, but this becomes very delicate,” said Scott Snyder, an expert on North Korea with the Asia Foundation. He says it is more likely for China to “wait and see who actually emerges as the successor” and then try to work with that person.
North Korea and China enjoy a special relationship that the late Mao Tse-tung once described as “close as lips and teeth,” and the bridge that carried Kim across the Yalu on Monday was named the Friendship Bridge, in reference to China’s incursion across the Yalu in 1950 to join with Communist forces against the U.S.-supported South Korea in the Korean War. But China
appeared increasingly frustrated with its old ally, whose behavior
counters its paramount goal of keeping stability in the region.
In addition to its rogue nuclear program, North Korea is the leading, if not only, suspect in the March 26
sinking of a South Korean patrol boat, the Cheonan, in which 46 sailors
were killed. Many analysts believe that Kim Jong Il’s trip to China, originally planned for early April, was delayed as a result of the Cheonan incident, as China didn’t want to be seen as supporting North Korea’s action.
South Korea’s president, Lee Myung-bak, was in China
as well last week, meeting with President Hu on Friday to solicit
support if his country sought stronger U.N. sanctions in retaliation
for the Cheonan attack.
“China wants to hear North Korea’s explanation so it can determine its position,” said Yang Moo-jin, professor at the University of North Korean Studies.
China has been taking a more active role recently in mediating North Korea’s many disputes with the international community. Beijing is thought likely to press Kim this trip on returning to the stalled six-nation talks on dismantling its nuclear program.
In addition to the diplomatic agenda, North Korea and China have business to discuss regarding North Korea’s need for investment in its faltering economy. China recently leased space in the port in Rajin, a special economic zone on North Korea’s eastern coast, which would open up for China a convenient trading route to the Sea of Japan. China is reportedly considering leasing, as well, two North Korean-owned islands in the Yalu River.
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