The visit has triggered North Korea-watchers in South Korea and elsewhere to play another guessing game about the secretive country suspected of producing nuclear weapons, making and circulating fake U.S. bills and trafficking drug.

Media reports from Seoul and Beijing have said Kim is making a rare overseas trip to China, citing witnesses and diplomatic sources. Kim's special train reportedly crossed the border to reach a Chinese town of Dandong on early Tuesday amid heavy security, a scene similar to Kim's visit to China in April 2004, according to media reports.

South Korean news reports said Kim had traveled to Shanghai and Guangzhou to observe the hubs of China's market economy, and was expected to travel to Beijing for meetings with President Hu Jintao.

But confirmation of his visit remained shrouded in mystery. His whereabouts, mode of travel and the purpose of his trip are all unclear.

Neither North Korean nor Chinese media have reported about the trip yet. The Chinese Embassy in Seoul refused to comment. North Korea and China have a rule of announcing Kim's visits only after he has returned to North Korea.

The U.S. and South Korean governments said they had no firm information on Kim's reported trip.

"China has not officially announced (Kim's visit)," Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon told journalists. "China didn't inform us or confirm the news either. So I am not in a position to talk about the issue."

U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow also said he had no information on Kim's whereabouts, expressing hope the apparent visit would help resume the stalled multilateral talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons drive.

"We have very little information about exactly where Chairman Kim Jong-il maybe is or what he is doing in China. If he is in fact there and having high-level meetings, it will lead to a new impulse to the six-party talks," he said, speaking at an academic forum in Seoul.

The chief U.S. nuclear negotiator, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, who stayed in Seoul, said he was surprised by the reports.

"I must say the trip that Chairman (of the North Korean National Defense Commission) Kim Jong Il took to China was a surprise to all of us, and it is complete coincidence that I am in the area at the same time," Hill told reporters ahead of leaving for Beijing on Thursday.

In Seoul, Hill met with his South Korean counterpart, Song Min-soon, who returned from Beijing on Tuesday after two days of consultations with Chinese officials to discuss ways to resume the six-party talks, which also involves Japan and Russia.

North Korea has refused to rejoin the nuclear disarmament talks, citing U.S. financial sanctions over fake American dollars and other illicit activities, with U.S. impatience rising over the stalled talks.

In September and October, the United States blacklisted eight North Koran firms for spreading weapons of mass destruction and a Macau bank suspected of circulating fake U.S. dollars allegedly made in North Korea.

South Korean analysts say Kim's China visit seemed aimed at wooing Beijing's help to end U.S. sanctions. Nam Sung-wook, a Korea University professor, said the regime suffered from the U.S. sanctions and considered them a move to destroy the communist regime.

Nam and other analysts say North Korea is keeping Kim's visit secret because of security concerns. But the question remains why he has to fear for his safety even while saying in China, the country's sole communist ally.

A train blast in a North Korean border station just after Kim's China trip two years ago raised security concerns. He barely escaped, triggering speculation the accident may have been an assassination attempt.

South Korean analysts and media called on Seoul to strengthen information-gathering efforts on North Korea and its leaders.

"Lack of information of the unstable nation fuel uncertainty," South Korea's largest newspaper Chosun Ilbo said in an editorial.

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