Kim Jong Il arrives in Ulan-Ude for summit with Medvedev

Kim Jong Il, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), arrived in the eastern Siberian city of Ulan-Ude on Tuesday for a summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Russian media reported. On the fourth day of his Russia trip, Kim's armored train arrived in Ulan-Ude of the Buryatia region, about 4,420 km east of Moscow, in the morning, RIA Primamedia reported. He was greeted by Russian officials at the station and headed for an unknown destination in the city's downtown area. He is expected to meet Medvedev on Wednesday in the village of Sosnovy Bor, 50 km from Ulan-Ude. The two leaders will discuss the implementation of three major projects: a railway connecting DPRK and South Korea, a gas pipeline and power-transmission line from Russia through DPRK to South Korea. Kim will visit an aircraft factory, one of the city's leading enterprises. His visit to Russia, the first in nine years, aims at grabbing economic aids for his country, which is suffering from floods and economic sanctions, analysts say.