DALIAN, China, May 3 (UPI) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Il reportedly arrived in China Monday in the first trip out of his country since a reported stroke in 2008, authorities said.
Kim's 17-car train crossed the border at Dansong, China, en route to Dalian, an industrial port where Kim was to inspect companies interested in investing in North Korea, The New York Times reported, quoting South Korean and Japanese news media.
During previous trips, China and North Korea officially have kept Kim's visits secret until after they ended.
North Korea, an ally of China, desperately needs aid to deal with a food shortage and inflation triggered by North Korea's currency revaluation late last year, the Times reported.
Kim, 68, also may be seeking to defuse efforts by South Korea to win Chinese support for punishing the North for the March 26 sinking of a South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors. Many South Koreans believe North Korea torpedoed the ship, authorities said.
Kim's reported trip also raised hopes his country would return to six-nation talks on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program, the Times reported.
