China Visit Points to N. Korea Overhaul

Signaling his interest in overhauling his nation’s Stalinist economy, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il met with China’s President Jiang Zemin here Saturday at the end of a six-day unofficial tour of Chinese economic achievements.

Kim’s trip, his second to China in eight months, was shrouded in official secrecy and was announced only Saturday evening, after his special train had crossed the border back into North Korea.

Last week, Premier Zhu Rongji, China’s economic czar and a former Shanghai mayor, hosted visits by Kim to the Shanghai stock market, China’s largest steel plant and a $1.5-billion General Motors joint-venture plant that makes Buicks.

Shanghai was an economic backwater when Kim last visited in 1983, and Kim said to Jiang that the “earthshaking changes show that the Chinese people’s policy of reform and opening up is correct,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao told reporters.

Although Kim did not publicly say that he intends to follow China’s example and launch market reforms, South Korean media and politicians said his visit was a clear indication that such changes are in the works.

“This proves that North Korea is changing,” South Korean President Kim Dae Jung said of the trip. “It appears to be trying to become a second China.”

Kim brought his joint chiefs of staff and other high-ranking officers with him, suggesting to analysts that he will need the powerful military’s backing to embark on any economic reforms. Clinging to its philosophy of self-reliance, the North has often said it will never open to the outside world.

However, analysts pointed to recent changes in the tone of the North’s domestic propaganda. Earlier this year, official media quoted Kim as saying, “We should resolve all issues from a new viewpoint to meet the requirements of a new era.”

Official commentaries, meanwhile, have called for “renovation” and attracting foreign investment, as well as improving relations with nations that respect North Korean sovereignty.

Kim’s visit was similar to his previous trip to China last May, when he visited the country’s top computer company and sought Beijing’s advice ahead of his summit the following month with Kim Dae Jung.

This time, Jiang congratulated Kim on the summit and on recently normalized diplomatic relations with Western nations, including Canada and Italy, spokesman Zhu said.

“China welcomes and supports North Korea’s efforts at improving relations with the United States and Japan,” Zhu added.

The spokesman also said Jiang had accepted Kim’s invitation to visit North Korea at an unspecified time. But he declined to say whether the two had discussed the new U.S. administration, which has signaled that it may take a harder line toward both China and North Korea.