Kim Jong-il's first China visit prompts questions

Following are some questions about what will likely be a highly secretive visit by the reclusive Kim, whose few trips to China, the North's biggest benefactor, have often led to moves that decreased the security threat his state poses to the region.

What Will Be Kim's

Purpose of the Visit?

North Korea needs money, especially since U.N. sanctions imposed after its May 2009 nuclear test squeezed its once lucrative arms trade and a major currency policy blunder at home late last year put a strain on its already dysfunctional economy.

China has economically and politically supported its neighbor through decades of oppressive rule and defiant military grandstanding that left it deeply isolated.

News reports say Kim may be trying to shore up investment in new projects that his state has launched to increase its meager international trade and commerce.

A South Korean think tank said the North's trade shrank last year for the first time in a decade after it was hit with the U.N. sanctions.

In 2009, bilateral trade between China and North Korea was worth US$2.7 billion, a fall of 4 percent compared to 2008 numbers, according to Chinese customs statistics. North Korea's exports to China rose by 4.3 percent to US$793 million.

Kim may also be looking to increase the flow of oil, food and goods that he depends upon the keep the economy going.

Kim may tour China's northeastern industrial region, spanning Jilin and Liaoning provinces and Tianjin, a port city near Beijing, looking for deals to boost business across the border.

Beijing may hope such a tour — through a landscape not too different from North Korea's — will encourage Kim to embrace market economic reforms like China's.

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