North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a railway station to see off a special train that carried the bodies of Chinese tourists who were killed in a traffic accident in the North, and the injured, state media said Thursday.
Kim's rare move came amid a thaw in relations between Pyongyang and Beijing that was highlighted by his surprise trip to China in March ahead of summits with South Korea and the United States.
The North's leader ordered the formation of a special train that could carry those who were killed and wounded in a recent traffic accident to China in a "responsible" manner, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
This photo, carried by North Korea`s state news agency on April 26, 2018, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (right) on a special train that carried the bodies of Chinese tourists who were killed in a traffic accident in the North as well as the wounded. He visited a railway station a day earlier to see it off. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
The bus accident occurred Sunday, leaving 32 Chinese tourists dead and two seriously injured. Four North Koreans also died.
"(Kim) said that he and the Party and Government are poignantly feeling the responsibility for the accident," the KCNA reported, adding that Kim went to Pyongyang Railway Station on Wednesday night to see off the train.
The North's leader "once again expressed deep condolences and apology to the bereaved families of the victims," it added.
The report said that Kim has ordered officials to thoroughly investigate the accident and will take strong measures to prevent the recurrence of such a tragedy.
Kim has conducted rare public activities over the latest accident in an apparent effort to prevent it from hindering budding signs of an improvement in North Korea-China relations.
He made his first visit to China's Embassy in Pyongyang Monday to express condolences over the deaths and went to a hospital where the injured were treated.
China, North Korea's only remaining ally and economic lifeline, had seen its ties with the North strained due to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile provocations.
But their ties have begun to improve since Kim held a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to Beijing in late March ahead of his planned meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump. (Yonhap)
