NK Leader Visits Father`s Monument in NE China

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is known to have visited a monument in northeastern China honoring his late father and predecessor Kim Il Sung.

He appeared to have left Harbin in China`s Heilongjiang province early Monday morning on an exclusive train.

Kim is believed to have briefly stopped in Mudanjiang on his way to Tumen, where he will cross the Tumen River to return to the North Korean city of Namyang.

He is known to have arrived in Mudanjiang Monday afternoon, transferred to a protocol car, and visited a monument honoring his father and the North’s founder Kim Il Sung in Beishan park.

Mudanjiang is famous for guerrilla warfare waged by Korean and Chinese communists against Japanese colonial occupation in the 1930s. Those who led the launch of North Korea -- Kim Il Sung, Choe Hyon, So Chol, O Pae Ryong, Rim Chun Chu, Choe Yong Kun and Kim Chaek -- participated in the anti-Japanese movement.

mungchii@donga.com bonhong@donga.com