▲ This file photo from March 28, 2018, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C, in black suit) and his wife, Ri Sol-ju (R, behind Kim), arriving in Beijing on his special armored train. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

(2nd LD) NK leader-China

(2nd LD) N. Korea's Kim departs for China aboard train: sources

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout; CHANGES headline)

By Park Boram

SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un departed Pyongyang on Monday afternoon aboard a train, a source familiar with the matter said, with Kim expected to make his debut on the multilateral diplomatic stage at a military parade in Beijing.

It will be the first time for Kim, who assumed power in late 2011, to attend a multilateral diplomatic event. His grandfather and the North's founder Kim Il-sung attended a military parade in Beijing in 1959.

Kim's presence at the military parade, set for Wednesday in Beijing, would set the stage for a possible, and unprecedented, three-way meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Kim's trip is expected to take 20 to 24 hours to reach Beijing. He is forecast to arrive Tuesday afternoon.

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