ZCZC
BFF-24
VIETNAM-NKOREA-US-DIPLOMACY-SUMMIT-TRAIN
Vietnam train station on lockdown ahead of Kim’s expected arrival
DONG DANG , Vietnam, Feb 25, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The train station on the
Vietnam-China border where Kim Jong Un is expected to arrive by rail was
closed to the public and surrounded by armed guards on Monday, days ahead of
the North Korean leader’s summit with Donald Trump.
Kim boarded his trademark olive-green train in Pyongyang on Saturday and
its armoured carriages were later spotted crossing a bridge into China.
The train apparently bypassed Beijing and is now thought to be chugging
south en route to Vietnam, which is hastily preparing for the second meeting
between Kim and US President Trump after their historic first summit in
Singapore last June.
Sources in Vietnam said Kim could arrive at the Dong Dang border station in
the early hours of Tuesday following his epic 4,000 kilometre (2,500 mile),
two-and-a-half-day journey.
His motorcade is likely to drive from Dong Dang to Hanoi and in an
unprecedented move, the entire 170-kilometre stretch of road will be
completely closed from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm Tuesday.
An AFP reporter at the scene saw armed guards stationed at Dong Dang
station on Monday morning, while workers tended to the rail tracks.
“(The station) is closed, no public access. We don’t know when it’s closed
until but around tomorrow,” a guard told AFP, requesting anonymity.
Kim’s route through China remained a tightly guarded secret.
Ifeng, the online Chinese-language news website of Hong Kong-based Phoenix
Television, posted a video on its Twitter-like Weibo account showing what it
described as Kim’s special train passing through Wuhan in the central
province of Hubei at 7:15 am local time on Monday.
Vietnam said on Saturday that Kim would make an official visit to the
country “in the coming days”, but did not say whether that would be before or
after the Trump-Kim summit on February 27-28.
Two sources told AFP on Monday that Kim would stay at a modern hotel in
downtown Hanoi, about one kilometre (mile) from the colonial-era Government
Guesthouse where the summit could take place.
The Melia hotel boasts of its “elegant interiors with gorgeous views of the
city” and is connected to Hanoi’s only Rolls-Royce dealership catering to the
city’s growing class of super-rich.
A staff member told AFP this week the hotel was fully booked until early
March, but would not be drawn on any VIP guests.
The White House press centre will be set up at the same hotel, and North
Korean security personnel were seen entering the building on Sunday.
During his trip Kim is also expected to visit industrial zones in Vietnam’s
provinces of Quang Ninh and Bac Ninh, which is home to a Samsung factory.
Trump and Kim’s first meeting ended with a vaguely worded statement to work
towards the “complete denuclearisation” of the Korean peninsula, and both
sides are under pressure to walk away from this week’s summit with concrete
deliverables.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1230 hrs