<\/p>\n
By George Mgbeleke
\nThe \u201cfootprint tribute,\u201d known to commemorate the stroll and friendship building between Chairman Kim Jong-un and President Xi Jinping during Kim\u2019s visit to Dalian, China, in 2018, has recently been identified to be removed.
\nAccording to multiple sources on the 10th, the tribute, which was located on the beach of Bangchui Island on the outskirts of Dalian where the two leaders walked and conversed, can no longer be found anymore. Recent photos obtained through North sources by JoongAngIlbo show only traces covered with black asphalt concrete where the footprints used to be.
\nJoongAngIlbo also obtained photos from the past showing the tribute installed, with two pairs of footprints facing the same direction side by side. Although there has been no official announcement from China regarding the installation of the tribute, it is widely known to have been installed to commemorate the stroll of the two leaders.
\nIn light of this, there is speculation in diplomatic circles that the removal of the footprints would have been impossible without President Xi\u2019s approval. A local source familiar with the matter said, \u201cthere is a high possibility that the central government issued instructions for the removal.\u201d
\nAnother source mentioned, \u201cit is also known that the \u20187th Exhibition Hall,\u2019 previously located in a restaurant near the Bangchui Island beach, has been closed,\u201d adding. \u201cChairman Kim had also come by the exhibition hall as it displayed photos of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il\u2019s visits to Banchui Island.\u201d The exact timing of the removal of the footprint tribute and the closure of the exhibition hall has not been confirmed.
\nOh Kyung-seop, a researcher at the Korea Institute for national Unification, said, \u201cthis decision seems to be made as there is no longer a need to maintain or manage the tribute, whether due to problems in North Kore-China relations or for any other reason.\u201d
\nConsidering the symbolism inherent in the meeting between the two leaders, more questions are arising. Chairman Kim made a surprise visit to Dalian just a month before the first North Korea-Us summit (June 12, 2018). Chairman Kim, who rode a private plane on his way to China, had a tight schedule in order of official meetings, welcome dinner, stroll on the Bangchui Island beach, and luncheon with President Xi. The highlight of the event was the beach stroll.
\nAt the time, the two leaders walked side by side, showcasing their friendship with only interpreters accompanying them. Bangchui Island has been a place where Chinese leaders have visited to host foreign leaders or relax since the tome of Mao Zedong. Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-un\u2019s grandfather, also visited the Island many times. This location also serves as the background of Chairman Kim and President Xi\u2019s \u2018stroll diplomacy.\u2019
\nAt the time of the summit, China\u2019s state-owned news outlet, CCTV reportedly aired scenes of the two leaders strolling on the Bangchui Island beach. According to the Korean Central News Agency, Chairman Kim described North Korea-China relations as a \u201cnew heyday\u201d and \u201can inseparable one body\u201d to which President Xi responded, \u201cthe two countries are destined partners, bound by an unchanging relationship of loyalty.\u201d
\nAgainst this backdrop, some view the disappearance of the footprint tribute and the closure of the exhibition hall as indications of turbulence in the relationship between the two countries.
\nIn fact, recently, the North Korean Foreign Minister exhibited an unusual stance by issuing a statement criticizing China along with the ROK and Japan immediately after the trilateral summit on May 27. On the same day, North Korea launched a military reconnaissance satellite. This can be interpreted as a clear expression of dissatisfaction with China by Chairman Kim.
\nDiplomatic sources said, \u201cdespite this year marking the 75th anniversary of North Korea-China diplomatic relations, North Korea seems to be seeing China\u2019s attitude as exceedingly inflexible.\u201d On Zhao Leji\u2019s visit in April the sources added that \u201calthough the third highest-ranking Chinese official visited North Korea, the country was dissatisfied because his visit did not \u2018bear any gifts\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By George Mgbeleke The \u201cfootprint tribute,\u201d known to commemorate the stroll and friendship building between Chairman Kim Jong-un and President Xi Jinping during Kim\u2019s visit to Dalian, China, in 2018, has recently been identified to be removed. According to multiple sources on the 10th, the tribute, which was located on the beach of Bangchui […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[173,174,175,171,176,172],"class_list":["post-283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-economy","category-uncategorized","tag-also-closed-turbilence-between-kim-and-xi","tag-business","tag-exhibition","tag-exhibition-hall","tag-north-korea","tag-symbol-of-north-korea-china-friendship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":284,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283\/revisions\/284"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}