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SCMP Reporters

Security at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse and Beijing railway station quickly returned to normal on Tuesday afternoon after the distinctive green train carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong-un set off on its return journey to Pyongyang.
A little over two hours after the armoured express was reported to have pulled out it was business as usual, according to South China Morning Post journalists at the scene.
Two sources, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, confirmed that the mystery guest was Kim.
“It wasn’t his sister, it was Kim himself,” one said.
Why a mystery armoured train could hold the key to Kim Jong-un’s rumoured visit to China

The Chinese foreign ministry has yet to confirm the visit by Kim or any North Korean delegation.
An official at the International Department of Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, which deals with North Korea relations, told the Post he had no information on the issue.
It is traditional for visits to China by North Korean leaders to be announced only after they have left the country.

The agenda of Kim’s visit – his first foreign excursion since coming to power in 2011 – is still unknown.
It came, however, amid easing tensions on the Korean peninsula, after officials from the North and South agreed to hold talks, and US President Donald Trump gave the green light for direct negotiations with the head of the restive state.

Relations between Pyongyang and Beijing have been strained as a result of North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and missile launches. North Korea was also dismayed that China endorsed UN Security Council resolutions, and Pyongyang has never sent a high-level official to its long-time ally under Kim’s rule.
However, Beijing remains a key economic backer of the North Korean regime.


The return to normal security levels on Tuesday was in marked contrast to the scenes in Beijing on Monday, when motorcades and roadblocks were seen across the city. Security has also been intensified on the China-North Korea border.
The first hint that the mystery guest was Kim was the appearance of the green train of the type favoured by North Korea’s senior leadership, which was seen travelling from the border city of Dandong to Beijing.
Beijing residents left in the dark over mystery guest as rumours swirl that Kim Jong-un is in town
The roads around the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse – where foreign dignitaries usually stay – were cordoned off on Monday and local people were told to avoid the area.
Reporters were held back behind a cordon a couple of hundred metres away, as a convoy of vehicles accompanied by police motorbikes left the compound about 9.30am on Tuesday and returned about two hours later.
Later, the motorcade was spotted passing by Tiananmen Square, apparently en route to the railway station.
Reporting by Laura Zhou, Liu Zhen, Minnie Chan and Catherine Wong


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North Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un leaves Beijing after surprise visit

A train believed to have been carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong-un departs Beijing railway station on Tuesday afternoon. Photo: Reuters

A motorcade, foreground, arrives at Beijing Railway Station in Beijing Tuesday, March 27, 2018. Speculation about a visit to Beijing by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un or another high-level Pyongyang official was running high Tuesday amid talk of preparations for a meeting between the North's reclusive leader and President Donald Trump. (Kyodo News via AP)

A special train is seen at Beijing Railway Station in Beijing Tuesday, March 27, 2018. Speculation about a visit to Beijing by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un or another high-level Pyongyang official was running high Tuesday amid talk of preparations for a meeting between the North's reclusive leader and President Donald Trump. (Kyodo News via AP)

A motorcade arrives at Beijing Railway Station in Beijing Tuesday, March 27, 2018. Speculation about a visit to Beijing by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un or another high-level Pyongyang official was running high Tuesday amid talk of preparations for a meeting between the North's reclusive leader and President Donald Trump. (Kyodo News via AP)

Why a mystery armoured train could hold the key to Kim Jong-un’s rumoured visit to China

Police officers in Beijing start guard over the train that is rumoured to have been carrying Kim Jong-un. Photo: Reuters

epa02140971 A picture made available by Yonhap News Agency on 03 May 2010 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-il at an undisclosed location waving from the train that carried him on a visit to China in January 2006. According to media reports on 03 May 2010, rumors circulate that Kim was on another China trip by train on the same day. The 68-year-old leader reportedly has a fear of flying. EPA/YONHAP NEWS AGENCY

A train at Beijing. PHOTO: HANDOUT

A North Korean bodyguard stands as North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il gets into his train car after a welcome ceremony on the Russian-North Korean border, south of Vladivostok, Thursday, July 26, 2001, in this image from television. North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il started a ten day train journey across Russia on Thursday, heading for Moscow on the Trans-Siberian Railway on only his third foreign trip as leader of his impoverished and isolated country. (AP Photo/ RTR, Russian Television Channel) TV OUT RUSSIA OUT

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il arrives in his armoured train at Khasan on the Russian-North Korean border in 2001. Photo: Handout

Former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's trains. Photo: Handout

Video footage shows the drawing-room car of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s armored train during his recent trip to Russia. Photo: Handout

Beijing residents left in the dark during Kim Jong-un’s unexpected visit 

The motorcade and the car believed to be carrying the North Korea leader passes Tiananmen Square on Tuesday afternoon, Photo: Simon Song

epa06631426 Drivers wait after Chinese policemen blocked a road near Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, 27 March 2018. The move follows foreign media reports that a high-ranking North Korean official may be visiting China ahead of Pyongyang's planned summits with Seoul and Washington. EPA-EFE/WU HONG

Pictures taken at Tiananmen Square. 27MAR18 SCMP / Simon Song

epa06631428 A Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldier gestures to stop a photographer from taking pictures outside the North Korean embassy in Beijing, China, 27 March 2018. Foreign media reports that a high-ranking North Korean official may be visiting China ahead of Pyongyang's planned summits with Seoul and Washington. EPA-EFE/WU HONG

What Xi Jinping needs to hear from Kim Jong-un in China

President Xi Jinping and foreign minister Wang Yi listen during a meeting with the president of Cameroon, Paul Biya, in Beijing on March 22. If North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is, as reported, in Beijing for a meeting, it will be his first with Xi despite the long-standing alliance between North Korea and China. Photo: AFP

Policemen block a road near Tiananmen Square in Beijing on March 27, 2018. Speculation intensified on March 27, 2018 that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un was in Beijing for a surprise visit, after Japanese media reported the arrival of a special North Korean train met by an honour guard under tight security. / AFP PHOTO / WANG ZHAO

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Security returns to normal in Chinese capital as armoured train pulls out with head of restive state on board


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Exclusive | North Korean leader Kim Jong-un leaves Beijing after surprise visit

Security returns to normal in Chinese capital as armoured train pulls out with head of restive state on board