Kim Jong-Il Greets Jiang Zhemin at Airport

Chinese President Jiang Zhemin arrived at Pyongyang on September 3 and will begin a four-day summit with North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Il.

President Jiang left this morning on a special flight from Beijing and arrived at the Sun An Airport in Pyongyang where Chairman Kim welcomed him. The North Korean Government Broadcast Program reported that high ranking North Korean officials greeted President Jiang at the airport and hundreds of thousands of citizens lined up for 25 km from the airport to downtown Pyongyang to cheer President Jiang`s entourage.

President Jiang and Chairman Kim went into a meeting at the Paek Hwa Won reception hall where President Jiang will be staying, discussing the relations between the two countries and the political situation in the region. Reports say that they will be meeting again on September 4. The content of today`s talks were not publicized.

In the evening, President Jiang attended a banquet hosted by Chairman Kim.

Around 100 officials accompanied President Jiang for the North Korean visit, including the recently appointed new generation leader and head of the Community Party Organization Department, Zeng Qinhong, Vice Premier and head of Foreign Relations, Qian Qichen, Chief of Staff of the People`s Liberation Army, Qua Boxiung, head of the Communist Party Central Planning Committee, Wang Kang.

Lee Jong-Hwan ljhzip@donga.com