North Korean leader Kim Jong Un leaves Pyongyang for Vietnam
Sunday, February 24, 2019, 10:12 GMT+7
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has left the country for the second DPRK-U.S. Summit in Hanoi and an official friendly visit to Vietnam, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Sunday morning.
“Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, left here for the second DPRK-U.S. summit meeting and talks to be held in Hanoi, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam from Feb. 27 to 28, Juche 108 (2019),” the KCNA said.
This is the first time the North Korean state news agency has informd about the internationally anticipated event.
Chairman Kim will be accompanied by a delegation of high-ranking officials, including Kim Yong Chol, Ri Su Yong, Kim Phyong Hae, and O Su Yong, who are members of the Political Bureau and vice-chairmen of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).
Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho and his deputy Choe Son Hui are among the delegates.
The North Korean leader will also be joined by his younger sister Kim Yo Jong, who is an alternate member of the Political Bureau and first vice department director of the WPK Central Committee.
The news did not mention First Lady Ri Sol Ju, who usually accompanied Chairman Kim during his visits to China and inter-Korean summits.
“The senior officials of the Party, government and armed forces organs sincerely wished Kim Jong Un good success in the second DPRK-U.S. summit meeting and talks and safe return,” the KCNA continued.
“His train left Pyongyang Railway Station on Saturday afternoon.”
According to Tass, a Russian news agency, the train entered China’s Dandong City at 7:40 pm on Saturday.
Chinese authorities have asked all hotels near the train station in Dandong to cancel all bookings until the end of Saturday.
In 1958, Kim Il Sung, the first leader of North Korea and grandfather of Kim Jong Un, paid an official visit to Vietnam.
The late leader traveled from Pyongyang to Beijing by air, from Beijing to Guangzhou by train, and from Guangzhou to Vietnam by air, according to South Korea’s Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper.
His flight landed at Gia Lam Airport, about eight kilometers from Hanoi, as Noi Bai International Airport was yet to be built back then.
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