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Kim Jong-un assumed power after his father died suddenly in 2011. Photo: AFP

North Korea’s Kim Jong-un may visit Beijing, says Chinese envoy

Ambassador to Seoul says North Korean leader could come to China ‘sometime in the future’

North Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could go to China on his first foreign trip since taking power, China’s ambassador to South Korea said on Wednesday, according to a report from South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

The 31-year-old leader assumed power after his father, Kim Jong-il, died suddenly in 2011. China is North Korea’s closest ally and main benefactor.

“I think that a visit from Kim Jong-un might materialise sometime in the future,” Chinese Ambassador Qiu Guohong was quoted by Yonhap as saying at a forum in Seoul.

“China and North Korea have maintained a normal relationship and there have been normal exchanges of visits between the leaders of both countries,” he said.

President Xi Jinping has not yet visited the reclusive North but made a state visit to South Korea in July, a move widely reported at the time as a snub to North Korea by Beijing.

China has spearheaded diplomatic efforts to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme but has not been fully successful in exerting pressure after a series of UN sanctions imposed because of the North’s atomic and missile tests.

“I don’t think that should be closely tied to the question of whether China-North Korea relations are good or bad,” Qiu said, referring to the timing of Kim’s visit to China.

It is still not clear if Kim has fully consolidated his grip over the isolated country. His father, Kim Jong-il, waited six years while asserting his leadership at home before travelling to China for the first time.

Meanwhile, South Korean border guards arrested an American man who they believe was attempting to swim across the border into the North, a South Korean defence official said on Wednesday.

The man was arrested on Tuesday night at a river near the Korean demilitarised zone, part of a restricted military area, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to office policy. He said investigators are questioning the man about the purpose of his apparent attempt to enter North Korea but gave no further details.

Yonhap, citing an unidentified government source, reported that the man was in his late 20s or early 30s and told investigators that he tried to go to North Korea to meet leader Kim. He was caught by South Korean marines while lying on the shore of the river after swimming north, the report said.

Last year, South Korean soldiers shot and killed a man with a South Korean passport who officials said ignored warnings to return the South after trying to go to North Korea via a river that runs through the border.

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