Our top story this afternoon... We have just received confirmation on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's third official trip to one of the regime's major allies, China.

For more details, we have our Kim Mok-yeon on the line for us. Mok-yeon I heard that we've had some confirmation?

Yes Ji-yoon, just this morning, China's state run CCTV reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is currently on a two-day visit to China.
The brief report announced at 10 a.m. local time, did not provide further details on Kim's purpose, nor the itinerary of his trip.
However, the news was sort of expected as several reports had already hinted of the possibility of the visit.
Earlier on Tuesday, sources within the aviation industry said a special plane, identified as an Ukrainian Antonov-148 carrying the logo of North Korea's state airline Air Koryo,... departed Pyongyang a little before 9:30AM, Korea time.
Japan's Nikkei newspaper also reported this morning that Kim had been preparing for a trip to China as early as today,... to brief his Chinese counterpart on the Singapore summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

So regarding the surprise visit, what did our top office have to say?

Well... South Korea's presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae also confirmed the trip and said that it's well aware of the ongoing developments between the two countries.
After the news broke, Blue House spokesperson Kim Eui-kyeom said that the government is getting enough information about relations between North Korea and China and applauded the nation's intelligence-gathering capabilities.
When asked whether the Blue House was informed of Kim's visit prior to the news, he stopped short of saying whether the Blue House had received information about the visit.

Back to you Ji-yoon.