(2nd LD) N. Korean leader unlikely to visit China soon: source

(ATTN: CORRECTS time of N. Korea's leader's reported illness; ADDS details; CHANGES
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SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is unlikely to visit
China in the imminent future, a South Korean government source said Saturday in
response to widespread media speculation on Kim's possible trip.
"We believe that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il won't make a visit to China
soon," the source said without elaborating.
Speculation has swirled that Kim might soon travel to China, his first such trip
since 2006. China is North Korea's closely communist ally and main aid provider
for the impoverished neighbor.
Some South Korean and Japanese media reported last week that North Korea had
restricted public access to its northwestern region facing the Chinese border
city of Dandong and dispatched an advance team to China to prepare for Kim's
trip. Kim, known to dislike air trip due to security concerns, used train for his
previous trips to China.
Premier Wen Jiabao and a few other top Chinese officials visited Pyongyang last
year to mark the 60th anniversary of Seoul-Pyongyang ties. Some observers
speculate that Kim might want to return those Chinese trips in advance of
Pyongyang's full-fledged negotiations with Washington on its nuclear program and
another round of inter-Korean summit that may be held later this year.
Observers expect that Kim's trip to China, if made, would seek to help facilitate
efforts to resume the six-way talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons
drive. China hosts the negotiations also involving South Korea, the U.S., Russia,
and Japan. The U.S. said North Korea gave a signal to rejoin the talks during a
December trip to Pyongyang by Stephen Bosworth, special representative for North
Korea policy.
Asked whether the secretive North actually held an official ceremony to celebrate
the birthday of Kim Jong-un, the youngest son of the leader, on Jan. 8 as some
media reported, the source said: "We have no intelligence about it."
Kim Jong-il, who allegedly suffered a stroke in 2008 and turns 68 in February,
has reportedly tapped Jong-un as his successor.
Citing an unidentified North Korean resident, Daily NK, a Seoul-based Internet
news provider that focuses on North Korea issues, reported Friday that the North
declared the son's birthday a national holiday.
But multiple sources at South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles
inter-Korean affairs, said they have yet to confirm the report.
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