North Korean leader Kim Jong-il visiting China

Seoul, May 3 (ANI): A special train carrying Kim Jong-il, North Korea's reclusive leader, crossed into China early Monday.

South Korean news agency Yonhap and other South Korean news media reported that if confirmed, this would be Kim's first to China in four years and the first time he has left North Korea since reports that he suffered a stroke in 2008.

The 17-car train crossed the steel bridge between the northeastern North Korean town of Sinuiju to the Chinese city of Dandong at 5:20 a.m., Yonhap reported without citing sources.he Chinese authorities beefed up security around the bridge and the Dandong railway station, deploying police officers and soldiers at intervals of 10 feet, the Yonhap report said.

Other South Korean news media, such as the mass-circulation daily newspaper Chosun and the news cable channel YTN, carried similar reports.

Officials in Seoul said Monday they could not confirm the reports. (ANI)