The special train carrying the 'Dear Leader' crossed the border this morning. He travelling aboard a trian with 17 armoured cars and will not take planes for fear of attacks. Beijing could offer food and money for a return to six-party talks on the North’s nuclear ambitions. Tension between the two Koreas over the sinking of Cheonan.

Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A special train carrying the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has arrived in China. Beijing is Pyongyang's closest ally and the only one able to influence decisions of the Communist dictatorship. It is the fourth visit of the "Dear Leader" of North Korea to China in 10 years, the last in January 2006. The talks with Chinese leaders will focus on economic aid and the nuclear question.

Sources in Seoul and Beijing, quoted by the South Korean agency Yonhap News report that this morning at 5:20 local time, a special train consisting of 17 armoured cars crossed the border on the Yalu River, stopping in the Chinese town of Dandong. "Kim [Jong-il] arrived about 5 o'clock this morning," confirmed an official employee at the "Bridge of Friendship", a tourist attraction which is also the border area between China and North Korea. The train should now continue on to Dalian, a port city of China that is witnessing strong economic growth, and then finally to Beijing.

It is the first trip of the "Dear Leader" to China over the past four years. The last trip dates from January 2006. Beijing is the largest provider of food, energy, finance and fuel to North Korea and is one of very few countries - if not the only on - to have any influence on the choices of the Communist dictatorship. Analysts and experts of international politics argue that Beijing could put pressure on Kim Jong Il to return to the six-party nuclear talks, currently hosted by China. In exchange China is offering economic and food aid.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry neither confirm nor deny the visit of Kim Jong-il to China - the fourth since 2000. The leader of the North Korean regime always travels in giant armoured trains for fear of terrorist attacks in case of air travel. The visit of the "Dear Leader" in China comes at a time of high tension between the two Koreas following the sinking of the Cheonan, the South Korea corvette that sank last March 26 in waters of the Yellow Sea, causing 46 victims. Seoul is pointing the finger of blame at Pyongyang, holding it responsible for the attack.

• china
• north
• korea
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• economic
• food
• aid
• nuclear
• talks
• south
• korea
• cheonan