Kim Jong-un's China trip may signal North Korea-U.S. summit preparations

South Korea's Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Tuesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's trip to China last week may have been more than an economic event, given the makeup of his delegation.

“The fact that both sides fielded their diplomatic and security teams deserves a close look,” Chung said at a parliamentary audit, responding to a lawmaker's question about the meaning of Kim's surprise one-day trip to the Chinese border city of Dandong on Saturday.

He noted the North Korean delegation was heavy with diplomatic and security officials, and that no economic officials were present at the newly opened bridge over the Yalu River.

Kim was joined by his sister Kim Yo-jong, a department director of the Workers' Party of Korea; Jo Yong-won, Ri Il-hwan and Kim Song-nam, secretaries of the party's central committee; Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui; and First Vice Premier Kim Tok-hun, among others.

The Chinese side included Wang Huning, the fourth-ranking official in the Chinese Communist Party; Foreign Minister Wang Yi; Liu Haixing, head of the party's international department; and Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, who is regarded as a Chinese diplomat with extensive experience in U.S. affairs.

Chung also called Kim's trip “unprecedented” on the grounds that he made a rare visit to China but held no talks with his Chinese counterpart, and attended an event for a bridge meant to boost economic cooperation with China, yet brought mostly his key security aides.

“We have to look carefully at what it means,” he said.

His remarks suggested the visit was more than a show of the old alliance and economic ties. It may also have been a chance to prepare for a possible North Korea-U.S. summit.

Yonhap