[USFK Forums] Kim Jong-il expected to tour Shanghai during his China trip [Yonhap]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Wednesday, January 11, 2006: A conflicting news.

2006/01/11 11:52 KST

(2nd LD) Kim Jong-il expected to tour Shanghai first during his China trip

SHANGHAI, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was expected to begin his first full day in China on Wednesday by touring Shanghai, a symbol of China's bustling market economy, diplomatic sources said.

There was no official confirmation of Kim's trip to China, a day after the train believed to be carrying him and his party was spotted passing through two Chinese border cities, Dandong and Shenyang, on Tuesday.

But China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan virtually confirmed that the reclusive North Korean leader was in China by saying Tuesday that he was "not authorized to make any announcement."
Kim, 64, had visited China three times before, in 2000, 2001 and 2004. China had officially confirmed those visits only after the leader had returned home.

Kim's Shanghai trip, if confirmed, would be his first since 2001, during which he marveled at the breakneck economic progress China has made since it opened its doors to the outside world more than two decades ago.

In 2001, Kim had met Chinese leaders in Beijing before coming to Shanghai. This time, he would make his schedule the other way round, the sources said.

"Shanghai as Kim's first stopover in China may signal North Korea's willingness to open and reform, albeit slowly, its economy," said Koh Yoo-hwan, a North Korean affairs professor at Dongguk University in Seoul.

Koh noted that North Korea attempted limited market reforms, about a year after Kim's 2001 China visit. During the 2001 trip, Kim reportedly said a "sea change" had taken place in Shanghai, recalling his previous visit there a few decades earlier.

Economic cooperation as well as the stalemated six-way nuclear talks is expected to be a major topic when Kim meets with President Hu Jintao and other Chinese leaders in Beijing, other diplomatic sources in China said.

Hu visited North Korea in October and promised China's unsparing assistance and advice if North Korea chooses to reform its economy. North Korea has recently asked U.N. and other international relief agencies to shift their help from direct aid to development assistance.

The ongoing nuclear tension is also expected to be a top issue in talks between Kim and Chinese leaders. China is being pressured by the U.S. and other countries to use its influence to persuade North Korea to return to stalled six-nation nuclear talks.

In the latest round of the six-nation talks in September, North Korea agreed to give up its nuclear weapons program in exchange for economic benefits and a security guarantee.

But subsequent talks stalled after the North placed new conditions by demanding power-generating light-water reactors in advance, which the U.S. says is unacceptable.

The prospect of the talks, which also involve South Korea, China, Japan and Russia, dimmed amid a new dispute over U.S. financial sanctions against the North.

In September and October, the U.S. blacklisted eight North Koran firms for spreading weapons of mass destruction and a Macau-bank suspected of circulating fake U.S. dollars allegedly made in North Korea.

North Korea vows not to rejoin the talks unless the U.S. sanctions are lifted. The U.S. maintains that the sanctions are a law enforcement issue and have nothing to do with the talks.

The chief U.S. negotiator to the six-party talk, Christopher Hill, is scheduled to visit Japan, South Korea and China, in that order, beginning on Wednesday.

Hill's trip to China, scheduled for Thursday, may overlap the North Korean leader's schedule in the Chinese capital, according to South Korean sources.

In Seoul, Hill will meet with his South Korean counterpart, Song Min-soon, who was just back from Beijing after two days of talks with Chinese officials.

"I returned from Beijing last night after two days of consultations with Chinese delegates," Song told an academic forum in Seoul on Wednesday. "Quiet diplomacy is important to move things forward."
Song said that he discussed with Chinese officials the North's alleged U.S. dollar counterfeiting as well as the stalled six-way nuclear talks. He declined to elaborate.

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