By Ju-min Park and Joyce Lee
SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korean leader Kim Jong Un crossed the border into China on his special train early Tuesday to attend China’s celebration of the formal surrender of Japan in World War Two, North Korean state media said on Tuesday.
Kim left Pyongyang for China on Monday and crossed into China early Tuesday morning, North Korea’s state newspaper Rodong Sinmun said on Tuesday.
Kim is expected to arrive in Beijing Tuesday morning.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said on Monday that Kim left Pyongyang by train to attend the military parade in China, citing an unnamed source familiar with North Korean matters.
Rodong Sinmun showed pictures of Kim with his entourage, such as Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, standing outside and smiling from inside the dark green special train, which appeared to be similar to the bulletproof train he has used before to travel to other countries such as China and Russia.
Meanwhile, North Korea on Monday expressed support for remarks made by Chinese President Xi Jinping at a summit calling for fairer global governance, adding that cooperation between North Korea and China will grow to pursue such a value, according to a vice foreign minister in comments posted on the North Korean foreign ministry’s website.
Xi on Monday pressed his vision for a new global security and economic order that prioritises the “Global South”, in a direct challenge to the United States, during a summit that included the leaders of Russia and India.
(Reporting by Ju-min Park and Joyce Lee; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
