BEIJING, Feb 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US Pres Donald Trump said that Kim Jong Un could soon put North Korea on the fast-track to becoming a major power as his former rival chugged across China in an armoured train, heading to their highly-anticipated summit in Vietnam.
After North Korea’s leader began his 4,000-kilometre epic from Pyongyang to Hanoi on Saturday, the US president flies out of Washington on Monday for their second meeting.
Images from North Korean state media showed citizens cheering Kim as he waved from the train at the start of what could be a 60-hour journey to the Vietnamese capital.
The train crossed the border city of Dandong later Saturday.
“Chairman Kim realises, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the world,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
In his tweets, Trump praised Beijing for falling into line behind the US-led sanctions on Pyongyang, saying Chinese President Xi Jinping had been “very helpful in his support of my meeting” with Kim.
“The last thing China wants are large scale nuclear weapons right next door,” he added.
Kim has met Xi four times in the past year, briefing his country’s sole major ally before and after his historic summits with Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
There were no signs of heightened security around Beijing railway station on Sunday, indicating Kim’s train likely bypassed the Chinese capital on the nearly 4,000-kilometre journey to Vietnam.
Sources said Kim was expected to arrive in Vietnam at the Dong Dang station near the China border, then drive to Hanoi.
“Vietnam wants to contribute its part to world peace … at this upcoming summit,” Vietnamese Prime Minister Xuan Phuc told reporters on Sunday. — NNN-AGENCIES
