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Why Did Kim Jung-il Visit China?
 
By Bak Han-byeol, Student Editor
 
American ex-President Jimmy Carter visited North Korea from August 26th to 27th. During his visit, North Korea’s leader Kim Jung-il visited China from August 26th to 31st. The Korean media focused on Kim’s company and guessed at his reasons for visiting China at that time. Most of the foreign press mentioned the problem of power succession, quoting the Korean Central News Agency’s announcement that “Kim Jung-il had said that developing the friendship (between China and North Korea) through the generations is an important issue”.  Let’s examine how the foreign press reported Kim’s visit to China. 
China’s President
Telegraph.co.uk, a part of the U.K Telegraph media group, focused on the problem of Kim’s successor. They introduced the profiles of Kim Jung-il and his youngest son Kim Jung-un and reported a few quotes from the leader himself. Kim stated   that “because North Korea is in a difficult political situation, it was an ‘important historical mission’ to hand the baton over to the ‘next generation’.” It said that it could not see Kim Jung-un’s name on the list of his father’s entourage for the meeting but Kim’s visit to China seemed to be aimed at consolidating his successor.
The Wall Street Journal, a U.S. economic newspaper, insisted that Kim’s visit was related to Kim Jung-un, quoting a foreign professor at Kookmin University. It also said Kim seemed to need China’s power to designate his son as his successor and added that an extraordinary conference of Korean Workers Party would be held in September. The kind of the gathering has been held whenever a special decision has to be made like when Kim Jung-il was handed power from his father. Also there was an unusual car accident of a high-ranking official that caused a change of power positions.
The Asahi Shinbum, a Japanese daily newspaper, covered Kim’s trip with a focus on economic and political problems. It said that China’s President Hu Jintao went to Jilin and met Kim, and it was a special event in China. It means that Hu estimated the failure of North Korea’s redenomination caused a bad economic situation like the food shortage. It also mentioned the sinking of a South Korean naval patrol ship as the political problem, and said that the closer China and North Korea’s relationship becomes, the worse the U.S. policy toward Pyongyang appears to be.
The Xinhua News Agency, a Chinese reporting institution, reported Kim’s schedule and feeling about the trip. It did not mention any of North Korea’s problems but it said Hu appreciated Kim for sending a message of condolence to China after a devastating mudslide hit Zhouqu County. It reported Kim’s visits to agricultural projects and factories and added Kim said North Korea wants to strengthen exchange and cooperation with China’s northeast and learn from China’s experience.  It described Kim’s trip without analyzing the visit to China.
It is the fact that North Korea is in the corner due to some problems including Kim Jung-il’s poor health, the failure of redenomination, and recent flooding. Kim Jung-il may need a breakthrough and help from someone he can depend on. His actions looked like an escape, but it may be the best for him to take his breath and to think of North Korea’s future.  Nobody knows the exact reason for his latest visit to China, but there has been ample speculation in the press about his visit.
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