China's Ambassador to South Korea, Qiu Guohong, was quoted by Yonhap as saying at a forum in Seoul on September 18, that North Korean leader 31-year old Kim Jong-un could go to China on his first foreign trip since taking power.  Qiu Guohong  said “I think that a visit from Kim Jong-un might materialise sometime in the future. China and North Korea have maintained a normal relationship and there have been normal exchanges of visits between the leaders of both countries.”