Beijing's Foreign Ministry denies report of N. Korean leader's Chinese trip

North Korea has blockaded all roads leading to a city bordering China, a source said Tuesday, suggesting the communist state's reclusive leader Kim Jong-il may be preparing a trip to China, but a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry dismissed reports of his imminent trip.

"As far as I know, there is no such arrangement now," the ministry spokesman, Qin Gang, told reporters in Beijing.

The remarks came amid reports that a special train carrying the North Korean leader has arrived in the North Korean town.

Earlier on Tuesday, South Korea's mass-circulation newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported that Kim's train has been in Shinuiju in northwestern North Korea, and there is a possibility he would cross the border within a few days.

"At present, roads leading to Shinuiju from other areas in North Korea are all blocked," the source in Dandong, a Chinese border town facing Shinuiju, said on condition of anonymity.

"I heard the North took such measures in the name of preventing the roads hit hard by floods from being washed away," the source said. "But I can't easily understand the measures since it didn't rain much in Shinuiju to an extent that would wash away roads."

He added that North Korea blocked roads and made other security measures around a certain area when Kim visited there in the past.

Quoting an unidentified diplomatic source in Beijing, the JoongAng Ilbo said North Korean security officials visited Beijing on Aug. 25, apparently to prepare for Kim's visit. The paper said Kim's China trip might begin later on Tuesday at the earliest.

Various media reports recently said Kim planned to visit China soon amid growing security concerns that North Korea may be preparing to conduct an underground nuclear test. The North's ties with China are believed to have frayed following the North's missile tests on July 5.

A South Korean newspaper went as far as reporting that Kim's train had already crossed the Sino-North Korea border. China's Foreign Ministry denied the report, saying there are no such arrangements for Kim's visit.

Kim rarely travels abroad, but has occasionally visited longtime allies China and Russia. When he traveled to China in January, media organizations in North Korea and China imposed a news blackout on the trip and confirmed it only after Kim returned home.

Shenyang/Beijing, Sept. 5 (Yonhap News)