김정은, 4차 방중 마치고 귀국길 올라... 北•中매체는 모두 잠잠
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wrapped up another round of a surprise visit to China and is on his way back home.
He is known to have held a summit with President Xi Jinping and looked around some industrial facilities in Beijing.
So far, though, North Korean and Chinese media are staying quiet, not releasing any related reports.
Oh Jung-hee starts us off.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wrapped up his fourth visit to China... after spending time with Chinese President Xi Jinping and looking around industrial facilities in Beijing.
The special train carrying Kim Jong-un and his entourage left the Chinese capital on Wednesday afternoon.
It takes about 14 hours from Beijing to Pyeongyang by train, so it's expected that Kim will get home early Thursday morning.
Kim arrived in Beijing in the morning Tuesday.
It was, in fact, his birthday, and he spent part of it in an hour-long summit with Xi Jinping,... during which they're believed to have coordinated on their strategies... ahead of Kim's possible second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Another important topic would have been strengthening their bilateral ties, since, this year, Pyeongyang and Beijing celebrate 70 years of diplomatic relations.
Kim also made this trip an opportunity to learn from China's economy.
On Wednesday, the North Korean leader went to Beijing's Economic and Technological Development Area.
He looked around a factory owned by China's representative pharmaceutical company Tongrentang for 20 to 30 minutes.
Then he met with the Chinese president once again for lunch before leaving Beijing.
Kim Jong-un's surprise visit to China comes after Washington hinted at the possibility of North Korea-U.S. summit taking place soon.
But both the North Korean and Chinese media are very quiet about this news.
They were quick to confirm Kim's China trip on Tuesday,... but after Kim arrived in China, no other details about his schedule, including the summit with President Xi, have been revealed.
Watchers say, this may be to not irritate the U.S. when the atmosphere's being created for the second Pyeongyang-Washington summit.
The U.S. has also been silent on Kim's visit to Beijing.
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.