North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ventures abroad

SUMMARY

For more than six years, the leader of North Korea remained cloistered inside his country. Then Kim Jong Un emerged. His arrival in Beijing on Tuesday marked his sixth foreign visit in less than 10 months. His travels started in China in March 2018, followed one month later with a step over the border to the southern side of the demilitarised zone that divides the two Koreas, where he met South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in. Four of Kim's trips have been to China, signaling its importance to North Korea. The most sensational was his June 2018 summit in Singapore with President Donald Trump. As talks with the United States stall over ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program, a question hangs: Will he and Trump meet again?

By APJan 9, 2019 11:04:23 AM IST (Published)

In this June 12, 2018, file photo, US President Donald Trump, left, and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un walk from their lunch at the Capella resort on Sentosa Island in Singapore. The most sensational of Kim's trip was the summit in Singapore with Trump. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

In this June 12, 2018, file photo, US President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands as he meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sentosa Island, in Singapore. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

A sedan which is believed to carry North Korean leader Kim Jong Un leaves a train station with a convoy in Beijing Tuesday, January 8, 2019. Kim's arrival in Beijing on Tuesday marked his sixth foreign visit in less than 10 months. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

In this September 19, 2018, file photo, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, second from left, his wife Kim Jung-sook, left, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, second from right, and his wife Ri Sol Ju, greet upon their arrival before the mass games performance of "The Glorious Country" at May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Pyongyang Press Corps Pool via AP, File)

In this May 26, 2018, file photo provided by South Korea Presidential Blue House, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, right, walk after their meeting at the northern side of Panmunjom in North Korea. (South Korea Presidential Blue House via AP, File)

In this file image taken from video footage run on March 28, 2018, by China's CCTV via AP Video, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol Ju wave from a car as they bid farewell to Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan in Beijing. Four of his trips have been to China, signaling its importance to North Korea. (CCTV via AP Video, File)

In this March 27, 2018, file photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, waves as he was given a send-off at the Beijing station in Beijing. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

In this April 27, 2018 file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in cross the border line at the border village of Panmunjom in Demilitarised Zone. (Korea Summit Press Pool via AP, File)

In this May 8, 2018, file photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, meets Chinese President Xi Jinping in Dalian, China. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

In this April 27, 2018, file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in talk as they walk on the blue bridge at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarised Zone, South Korea. (Korea Summit Press Pool via AP)

In this May 7, 2018, file photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, arrives at an airport in Dalian, China. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

In this June 19, 2018, file photo provided by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, walk together during a welcome ceremony for Kim at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (Shen Hong/Xinhua via AP, File)

In this September 20, 2018, file photo, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, second from right, and his wife Kim Jung-sook, right, pose with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and his wife Ri Sol Ju on the Mount Paektu in North Korea. (Pyongyang Press Corps Pool via AP, File)

A train similar to one seen during previous visits by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrives at Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, Tuesday, January 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)