TOKYO — North Korea’s leader traveled through China this week to observe the economic reforms that he has resisted for decades.
Chauffeured by an armored train and convoy of black Audis, Kim Jong-Il toured an automobile factory, a solar-panel plant and a discount store, where he reportedly inquired about cooking oil but didn’t buy anything.
Kim’s fling with Chinese commercialism — capped by a Wednesday sit-down in Beijing with Chinese leaders — fostered the latest hopeful talk that Pyongyang will open the world’s most controlled economy. For analysts, though, the trip revealed the stagecraft North Korea must perform as it bluffs interest in reform, then converts China’s approval into the aid and diplomatic support Kim needs to keep his country intact.
“To get these things, (Kim) may have to mouth platitudes about reform privately or maybe even publicly,” said Marcus Noland, a Washington-based North Korea economics expert.
