N. Korea Leader Arrives in China

North Korea’s reclusive leader arrived today in Beijing for a rare trip away from home apparently necessitated by his standoff with the United States over nuclear weapons and his nation’s urgent economic problems.

Traveling by luxury train, as is his custom, Kim Jong Il crossed the Yalu River on Sunday night at the Chinese border city of Dandong, according to reports in the South Korean media.

Chinese officials held a brief greeting ceremony before Kim and about 40 members of his delegation proceeded to Beijing. They were said to have arrived at the Diaoyutai State Guest House this morning.

The visit is expected to last four days and cover topics ranging from the six-nation negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear program to the North’s faltering attempts to modernize its failed communist economy along the lines of reforms undertaken by China in the 1980s.

Kim Jong Il seldom ventures out of his country, so the visit has engendered speculation that North Korea is on the verge of some dramatic step to end its diplomatic and economic isolation.

“This is a sign that North Korea is preparing for something important on both fronts -- the nuclear program and economic reforms,” said Paik Hak Soon, a North Korea specialist at South Korea’s Sejong Institute.

As the host to the multilateral talks, China has been trying for months to persuade its old communist ally to abandon its nuclear ambitions in exchange for improved international relations and possibly economic aid.

Diplomatic analysts say China is eager to avoid a collapse of the North Korean regime, a development that could send millions of refugees fleeing to China and eventually result in the North being absorbed by U.S. ally South Korea. For their part, the North Koreans hope China can prevent the Bush administration from adopting an even tougher policy toward North Korea such as economic sanctions, an embargo or even preemptive strikes.

The Chinese foreign minister, Li Zhaoxing, made a rare trip to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, last month.

Kim Jong Il has visited China at least twice in recent years. In January 2001, he spent four days in Shanghai ogling skyscrapers, the stock exchange and automobile and semiconductor plants. He reportedly professed “shock” at the dramatic economic developments in the Communist-ruled country and vowed to bring the same to North Korea. The other visit was in May 2000. Kim’s rare trips are shrouded in secrecy, and this visit to China is no exception. Although there have been rumors for weeks that Kim was about to depart for China, the visit was announced by neither the Chinese nor the North Koreans.

Cho Seong Dae of South Korea’s Yonhap news agency wrote that photographers had been trying to stake out Kim’s entourage in China, but that to catch a glimpse of Kim was “as difficult as plucking the stars from the sky.”