Kim Jong Un visits China via newly opened border bridge

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has travelled to China by train across a newly opened border bridge, South Korean officials and media reported on Saturday. The Guardian and The New York Times reported that South Korean officials confirmed the trip, which is Kim's first known travel abroad in more than a year. A South Korean government source told the Yonhap news agency that Kim travelled from Pyongyang to Sinuiju before crossing into the Chinese border city of Dandong. [1][7][8][9][10][11]

The Guardian reported that Chinese Premier Li Qiang also travelled to Dandong for the visit. Kim crossed over the New Yalu River Bridge, which connects Dandong in Liaoning province to Sinuiju in North Korea. As FTMQ News reported earlier, the three kilometre bridge officially opened after being delayed for 12 years since its original 2014 completion target. [1][15]

The trip follows unverified social media rumours that the 42 year old North Korean leader had died or suffered a brain haemorrhage, according to reporting by the Daily Express and Türkiye Today. North Korean state media attempted to dispel those rumours earlier in the week by publishing new photographs of him. [2][3][5][6]

Kim Jong Un has served as the supreme leader of North Korea since 2011, following the death of his father, Kim Jong Il. He is the third ruler from the Kim family to lead the country since its founding by his grandfather, Kim Il Sung. [2][12]