The English-language channel of Chinese state television, brought it on Tuesday on the formula: “Kim Jong-un visited China before he meets Trump and Moon.” In the Morning, the North Korean was in power with his private train, accompanied by his wife Ri Sol-ju in Beijing, arrived. Of all things, to his alleged 35.Birthday.

Friederike Böge

Political correspondent for East Asia.

F. A. Z.

It is his fourth visit to China in ten months. The first three times were in each case shortly before or after the summit, Kim Jong us with the American President Donald Trump, and the South Korean President, Moon Jae-in. And so the assumption is that this time the Timing is no coincidence: on Sunday, Trump had announced that there were already negotiations with North Korea about the place of a second meeting between him and Kim Jong-un. “In the not-so-distant future,” will declared the result.

In contrast to the public effective summits with Trump, and Moon Kim’s visit to Beijing was on Tuesday extremely secretive, colorless, and bilderarm. As with the previous Painting, he announced extraordinary safety measures in the Chinese border city of Dandong. There hotel guests, the room had booked, with a view to the railway bridge over the river Yalu were evicted, in the evening temporarily. However, it was short-sighted after ten o’clock in the evening local time, the characteristic green-yellow private train of Kim dynasty. An official confirmation of this, there was in the morning on a Monday. The images of the convoys, with the high guest from Beijing railway station to the state guest house, Diaoyutai was taken, remained until the night the only visible evidence of the presence of Kims.

Neither the program of three days duration, was communicated to the visit, it was announced, with whom Kim Jong-un, when and about what topics advise. Not even birthday wishes, it was Kim Jong-un, according to figures from a sanctions list of the American Ministry of Finance on 8. January, 1984 was born. From Pyongyang, there is no official information. Unlike on the birthdays of Kim’s father and grandfather, there is no corresponding holiday.