Watch North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, 'visiting China with his son'

North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, 'visiting China with his son'

Speculation is growing that North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il, is preparing to hand over power to his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, after reports that the two have travelled to China to win support for the change.

The reported visit comes weeks before a rare meeting of the North Korean Workers' party is expected to set in motion Kim Jong-un's accession in the world's only communist dynasty.

The South Korean broadcaster YTV and other media said the two were on their way to China, North Korea's only remaining ally, today. It would be Kim Jong-il's second visit this year.

Yonhap news agency quoted a senior official in Seoul as saying that "signs have been detected" that Kim had begun the journey on his special armoured train. "We are still trying to grasp the exact destination and purpose of the visit."

Kim is said to be afraid of flying, partly because travelling by plane makes him an easier target for assassination attempts.

Analysts believe the trip could be designed to introduce Jong-un to senior Chinese officials, and possibly to request aid and lay the groundwork for the resumption of six-party talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.

The visit comes a day after the former US president Jimmy Carter arrived in Pyongyang to seek the release of an American who has been sentenced to eight years in prison for entering the country illegally.

There was no word today on the progress of Carter's mercy mission, although reports suggested that the 85-year-old would return to the US with Aijalon Gomes, a 31-year-old an English teacher and Christian missionary, by Friday.

Carter, who arrived yesterday on a private jet accompanied by his wife, Rosalynn, is also expected to use the visit to engage in unofficial diplomacy with the regime, although the Obama administration has been quick to stress that he is on a private humanitarian visit.
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