Kim Jong-il Sets Out By Train for Moscow

MOSCOW － North Korean leader Kim Jong-il arrived in eastern Russia Thursday morning and left Vladivostok on his personal train to travel by the Trans-Siberian Railroad to Moscow, the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS reported. He is expected to arrive on August 4 in Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin for two days.

The visit is the first by a North Korean leader to Russia since 1986.

The two heads of state will discuss linking the Trans-Siberian Railroad to the Korean Peninsula and other measures to strengthen bilateral economic and military cooperation. The readjustment of debt North Korea owes to Russia, the timetable for the repayment and Russian military aid to North Korea are on the agenda for discussion. The missile defense shield pursued by the United States will also reportedly be a key topic.

The Korean Central Broadcasting company and the Kremlin officially announced Mr. Kim's visit upon his arrival in the border city of Khasan, Russia. The South Korean government is on edge over the effects of the visit on relations between the two Koreas and between North Korea and the United States. Most political experts in Seoul contended that the Moscow talks would lead to a breakthrough for a second inter-Korean summit meeting. Others argued that it could as well evolve into the establishment of a trilateral cooperative framework between Russia, China and North Korea.

If North Korea introduces Russian high-technology weapons such as MiG-29 jet fighters, it could further inflame the United States, which is taking issue with the North's conventional weapons.

Russia is expected to reconfirm its support for North Korean efforts toward peaceful reunification on the Korean Peninsula and to urge Mr. Kim to visit Seoul, in view of Russia's desire for stability in Northeast Asia, analysts said. The two countries are likely to condemn U.S. hegemony and agree on opposing the U.S. anti-missile shield.

Mr. Kim will stop at Khabarovsk, a city bordering China, and will visit a tank-manufacturing factory in Omsk on August 1 and 2.

Igor Ivanov, foreign minister of Russia, briefed South Korea's foreign and trade minister, Han Seung-soo, Thursday in Hanoi.

by Kim Seok-whan