By Royston Chan
DANDONG, China (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il appears to have entered China, his destitute state's biggest benefactor, for a rare trip abroad that could defuse tensions on the troubled peninsula, reports said on Monday.
China has the most influence in curbing the North's military grandstanding and the reclusive Kim's previous trips to his neighbour have led to steps that have reduced security concerns for the economically vibrant region and between the rival Koreas.
The trip to China would be the first in four years and comes at a time when Seoul is considering ways to respond to a suspected North Korean attack on one of its naval ships. South Korea lost 46 sailors in what could be one of the deadliest strikes since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
"We have confirmed the arrival of a special train at (the Chinese border city) Dandong, and we believe it is highly likely that Chairman Kim is on board," a South Korean government official told Yonhap news agency.
There has been no confirmation of the trip and reporters camping out along the line that Kim's special armoured train would have to use to enter China, were hounded out of the area by Chinese security agents just before the suspected crossing.
Yonhap said the train thought to have carried Kim crossed in the pre-dawn hours of Monday with several hundred Chinese security agents sealing off the area around the train station.
Witnesses at the border said the security clampdown ended a few hours afterwards. The North's KCNA news agency's last report on Kim was on Saturday and said he attended a May Day concert in Pyongyang where songs including "This Is Icon of Socialism" and "Where Are You, Dear General" were performed.
The visit would be Kim's first trip abroad since a suspected stroke in 2008.
PUNISHING PYONGYANG
South Korea is expected to seek economic and political punishment against Pyongyang for the attack on the ship but avoid a revenge strike that might spark an escalating conflict between the rivals and devastate its own quickly recovering economy.
China wants to prevent tensions that increase the chances of war but is not about to punish its neighbour, analysts said.
Kim is even more reliant on China's help after a botched currency reform at the end of last year worsened inflation and sparked rare civil unrest that raised questions about Kim's grip on power in the state his family has run for more than 60 years.
"China has heard from South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on the ship sinking when he met President Hu Jintao last week and now it could hear from North Korea," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the South's University of North Korean Studies.
Yang said Beijing will weigh its options and see how far it is willing to cooperate with Pyongyang.
Analysts said Kim may be heading to China to seek financial aid in exchange for a return to international nuclear disarmament-for-aid talks hosted by Beijing that Pyongyang has boycotted for over a year.
Kim's trip to China in 2000 was soon followed by a summit in Pyongyang with South Korea's leader and the start of two major joint development projects in North Korea. A China trip in 2004 led to a push for talks on the North's nuclear programmes.
The North has come under pressure to return to six-country nuclear talks due to U.N. sanctions imposed after a May 2009 atomic test that have dealt a blow to its wobbly economy.
The North's official media did not announce his 2006 visit until after Kim's armoured train crossed the border and he was safely back in North Korea.
(Writing by Jon Herskovitz in Seoul; Additional reporting by Christine Kim and Cheon Jong-woo in Seoul; Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)
