Kim rides on roller-coaster with envoys

PYONGYANG

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un enjoys a ride in Pyongyang. AFP photo

Diplomats from several countries including Britain accompanied North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on his roller-coaster ride last week, the British embassy in the North’s capital Pyongyang said Aug. 3.

Photographs of the Kim, smiling broadly as the amusement park ride began, were circulated by state media as part of an apparent campaign to build an image of a relaxed and informal leader. The embassy confirmed that junior British diplomat Barnaby Jones joined Kim on the ride at Pyongyang’s Rungna amusement park, and said he was one of several diplomats to do so.

Dinner for Chinese officials

Kim also hosted a dinner in Pyongyang for senior political officials visiting from China, state media said Aug. 3, in what marked Kim Jong Un’s diplomatic debut and a sign that he is turning his attention to foreign affairs. Kim held talks with a Chinese delegation led by Wang Jiarui, head of the Communist Party’s international affairs office, and then invited the group to a dinner attended by North Korea’s political elite, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency. Kim told Wang that his government is focused on boosting the economy.