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Fan Chen

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived in China by train on Tuesday, leading a delegation that included his foreign minister and his daughter.
Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported Kim’s arrival in a brief report. An accompanying photo captured a smiling Kim getting off the train, while honour guards stood by the door.
He was greeted by Cai Qi, China’s fifth-ranking official, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
Accompanying the North Korean leader is his daughter, Kim Ju-ae, according to a KCNA photo.
Their arrival comes a day ahead of China’s grand military parade commemorating 80 years since the end of World War II, slated for Wednesday in Beijing.
Choe Son-hui, North Korea’s first female top diplomat, also travelled to Beijing with Kim, the agency added.

Choe has been present at Kim’s high-profile meetings with world leaders, including summits with US President Donald Trump during his first term.
The adopted daughter of former North Korean premier Choe Yong-rim, the senior envoy studied in China and Austria and speaks fluent Chinese and English.
She has also been deeply involved in the country’s nuclear talks for decades, beginning as an interpreter for the six-party talks, which ran from 2003 to 2007 and included China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States.
The talks sought to end North Korea’s nuclear programme through negotiations.
The veteran diplomat also has a reputation for tough talk.
In 2018, she called then US vice-president Mike Pence a “political dummy” and said North Korea would not “beg” for dialogue, warning of a “nuclear showdown” if diplomacy failed during Trump’s first term.
The denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula has long been a central issue in Pyongyang’s dealings with major powers.
While Beijing has pursued this goal through diplomatic engagement and efforts to revive the six-party talks, Washington has maintained an unwavering stance – insisting on complete denuclearisation.
In 2016, Choe, then the country’s deputy chief nuclear envoy, said at a security forum in Beijing that Pyongyang was not interested in reviving the talks, reportedly calling the long-stalled dialogue “dead”.


KCNA mentioned Choe by name as one of the officials travelling with Kim this week and photographed her sitting beside him in the special train.
Kim Song-nam, director of the international affairs department of the Workers’ Party of Korea, was seated on the train beside the North Korean leader, according to a KCNA photo.
Kim Song-nam manages party-to-party ties with China’s ruling Communist Party. He has served as an interpreter for all three members of the ruling dynasty, including Kim Jong-un’s father and grandfather, in their interactions with Chinese leaders, according to Reuters.
During a meeting with Wang in March last year, he voiced support for Beijing’s measures on issues concerning Taiwan, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, Kim Jong-un’s visit to Beijing for Wednesday’s parade marks his first trip to China in more than six years. According to Russian media reports, he will be seated to the left of Chinese President Xi Jinping while Russian leader Vladimir Putin will be on Xi’s right.
The North Korean leader is thought to have travelled in the green bulletproof train at a low speed under heavy security. The journey was expected to take up to 24 hours, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported on Monday.
The train was reported to have left for Beijing on Monday afternoon and crossed the Chinese border at dawn on Tuesday.


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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrives in Beijing by heavily armoured train on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua via AP

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at a railway station in Beijing on Tuesday. Photo: Weibo/KCNA

North Korea’s Kim Jong-un signals nuclear clout to US before China visit

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un inspecting an unnamed location in North Korea. Kim visited a research institute behind the development of ICBMs on Sunday, KCNA reported. Photo: KCNA/KNS/dpa

Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un talk during Xi’s visit to Pyongyang in 2019. Kim will be attending China’s World War II Victory Day military parade in Beijing on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

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North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un (left) departs from Pyongyang by special train to visit Beijing on Monday. Photo: KCNA/AFP

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inside his special train as he leaves Pyongyang for China in a photo released on Tuesday. Photo: KCNA/Reuters

Kim Jong-un (left) talks to Chinese officials in a train on the way home from China on January 19, 2019. Photo: KCNA/AP

Kim Jong-un arrives at Dong Dang railway station in Vietnam on February 26, 2019, for his second summit with US President Donald Trump. Photo: XinhuaZuma Press/TNS

Kim Il-sung (right) has a conversation with his son, Kim Jong-il (left) in a special train before an unofficial visit to China in November 1989. Photo: KCNA/AP

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Volunteers serve wine, produced at the eastern foot of China’s Helan Mountain, at an event in June. Photo: Xinhua

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un embraces a family member of a soldier killed overseas at an event in Pyongyang on Friday honouring the fallen. Photo: KCNA/KNS/AFP

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wave to a crowd in Pyongyang in June 2019 – the last time the two leaders met in person. Photo: Xinhua

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China

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Pyongyang delegation arrives in Beijing by train, with Kim greeted by No 5 official Cai Qi and top diplomat Wang Yi ahead of military parade


Pyongyang delegation arrives in Beijing by train, with Kim greeted by No 5 official Cai Qi and top diplomat Wang Yi ahead of military parade.


Who are the North Korean officials joining Kim Jong-un on visit to China?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Pyongyang delegation arrives in Beijing by train, with Kim greeted by No 5 official Cai Qi and top diplomat Wang Yi ahead of military parade

Pyongyang delegation arrives in Beijing by train, with Kim greeted by No 5 official Cai Qi and top diplomat Wang Yi ahead of military parade