According to the Korea Times’ intelligence sources, the North Korean train that traveled to China this week did in fact carry Kim Jong-un:
A train believed to be carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong-un leaves the Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, China, Tuesday / Reuters-Yonhap
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during a two-day visit to Beijing that started Monday, according to intelligence sources Tuesday.
This is the first time that Kim has taken an overseas trip and held a summit with a leader from another country since assuming power in 2011.
Kim took a train for his Beijing visit, but no detailed travel arrangements have been confirmed so far. The sources said that Kim met with the Chinese president and high-ranking officials from the Communist Party of China on the Beijing visit. The South Korean and Chinese governments have not released any official statements on the rare trip by the North Korean leader.
The visit comes at a critical time when the reclusive regime remains under growing diplomatic pressure amid heightened international sanctions imposed for the regime’s continuous nuclear and missile threats. With China also joining the global drive, relations between Beijing and Pyongyang had reached a low ebb.
The unexpected meeting between the two leaders also came a month before a planned inter-Korean summit. The North Korean leader has in recent months showed a strong willingness to improve ties with the South. On the back of the rare peace momentum on the Korean Peninsula, Kim also expanded the dialogue signal by offering to hold a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but it makes sense that Kim Jong-un would meet with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping before the upcoming summits. China was one of the combatants of the Korean War and has significant interests on the Korean peninsula. China will want to have these interests addressed by North Korea prior to upcoming negotiations between the DPRK, ROK, and the US. China in turn could be influential in getting United Nations sanctions reduced since they are a member of the UN Security Council. The next few months are shaping up to be quite interesting for the Korean peninsula.
