North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's train heads north from Vietnam without stopping in Beijing: Report

In this picture taken on March 2, 2019 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 3, 2019 North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un waves before boarding his train at the Dong Dang railway station in Lang Son. PHOTO: KCNA VIA KNS

SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's special train passed the north-eastern Chinese port city of Tianjin on Monday (March 4), sources said, apparently heading directly back to Pyongyang after a trip to Hanoi for a summit with US President Donald Trump, Yonhap news agency reported.

Mr Kim left Dong Dang station in Vietnam on Saturday after a two-day summit with Mr Trump and an official visit to the South-east Asian nation.

His train passed through Tianjin around 7am, according to the sources, apparently taking the same route as when he travelled nearly 66 hours by train to Vietnam.

"Security was tightened in downtown Tianjin early in the morning and then eased. It seems like Chairman Kim's train has passed through the city," a source said, according to Yonhap.

Despite earlier speculation, Mr Kim did not stop in Guangzhou, a Chinese port city north-west of Hong Kong, nor in Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on his way back home.

His train is expected to reach Dandong station in Liaoning province and then cross the Yalu River, also known as the Amrok River, near the border, on Monday night.

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