North Korean leader on fifth day of visit to China

Aug 30, 2010, 6:08 GMT

Beijing - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il visited the north-eastern Chinese city of Harbin over the weekend, extending a visit that has been surrounded by intense speculation to five days, South Korean media reports said Monday.

Kim's special train left Harbin railway station in Heilongjiang province early Monday, the Yonhap news agency said. It remained unclear whether he was to continue his visit or return home.

In Harbin, Kim visited a historical site connected to his father Kim Il Sung's fight against Japanese colonial rule, Yonhap said, quoting anonymous sources. In the city of Jilin, Kim also visited a school his father attended in the 1920s. Political observers speculated that the trip was aimed at winning Chinese support for Kim's plans to designate his third and youngest son, Kim Jong Un, as his successor. South Korean officials said the son, believed to be in his late 20s, might have accompanied his father, 68, who is said to have suffered a stroke in 2008.

North Korea's Workers' Party has scheduled one of its rare party meetings in early September, where Kim Jong Un may be elevated to a high party rank to prepare him for taking over from his father.

Analysts have suggested that Kim Jong Un's youth and inexperience are a concern to his father, and support from China, North Korea's main political and economic supporter, is seen as crucial for the power succession.

The elder Kim is believed to have met Chinese President Hu Jintao Friday in Changchun.

Kim's trips to China are not acknowledged by either the Chinese or North Korean governments until they are over, and there has been no official confirmation of the trip or where Kim was going.

At the weekend, reports suggested Kim was already on his way back to North Korea, when he suddenly turned up in Harbin. dpa lw im