China, Kim Jong-un | featured news

A joke circulating among officials in Beijing pretty much underlines the bind China is in over North Korea's plans to send a satellite into space. North Korea's young ruler Kim Jong-un phones a Chinese leader to tell him about timing of the planned rocket launch. "When will it be?" asks the Chinese leader. Kim replies: "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four..."

The first official talks between the two countries since the coming to power of the youthful new North Korean leader were “serious and substantial,” an American negotiator said Thursday.

With its secretive dynastic dictators and its nuclear-armed military, North Korea produces its fair share of intrigue even without the help of Chinese social media. But in recent days, netizens in China added their own plot twist, posting rumors about a military coup that upended young leader Kim Jong Eun.

There is no official confirmation of the reclusive leader's travel or its purpose. The son is expected to be named as Kim's successor. In a trip shrouded in mystery and speculation, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il appeared Thursday to be traveling to China by train with his youngest son, according to a South Korean government official.