NEWSLINE AT NOON 12:00 Kim Jong-un cancels trip to Russia

ARIRANG NEWS 12:00 Coming up today,.. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un backs out of a planned trip to Moscow for a war anniversary event. We′ll take a look into why Kim has decided to stay home. South Korea′s exports tumbled more than eight percent on-year in April the fourth straight month of decline on the back of low crude prices and the weak Japanese yen. Plus,... five days after the devastating earthquake in Nepal, two people are pulled alive from the rubble. The hope for finding more survivors,... however,... continues to fade as poor weather hampers rescue efforts. Hello... it′s noon on Friday the first of May... you are tuned in to our midday newscast here on Arirang TV. Thanks for joining us onthis Labor Day here in Korea,... I′m Mark Broome. Title: Kim Jong-un cancels trip to Russia Our top story this afternoon... After weeks of intrigue and speculation about will he or won′t he,... we now know that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will NOT be attending a ceremony in Moscow next weekend marking the 70th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. The Russian government had earlier said Kim would be there,... so it begs the question,... why was this apparently scheduled trip scrapped? Some experts on North Korea have their own theories... as our Laah Hyun-kyung reports. Pyongyang likes to keep its leader′s planned overseas visits quiet... says Georgy Toloraya, a North Korea expert and professor at Moscow State Institute of International Relations. In an interview with Seoul-based Yonhap news,... he added... North Korea-China relations are not at their best right now, but given their history and their strong alliance in the past,... Pyongyang might not have wanted to make things worse... by meeting the Chinese leader for the first time in a third country. In an interview with a Russian news agency,...Andrei Lankov,... another North Korea expert,... said... Kim probably wanted to avoid meeting with several state leaders at once. Citing the fact that the young leader has not met any heads of state since taking power in 2011,... Lankov said... that it would have been strange for him to make the trip in the first place. Alexander Zhebin of Russia′s Institute of Far Eastern Studies told the Interfax news agency that... Kim would have wanted to avoid pressure from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who would urge Pyongyang to give up its ballistic missile programs. Noting that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the foundation of North Korea′s ruling Workers′ Party,... Zhebin says... Kim will want to impress his people by boasting about the country′s missile and satellite technology. Whatever the cause,... Kim′s cancellation is viewed by many as a serious diplomatic discourtesy... and some watchers say this could have a negative effect on Pyongyang-Moscow ties, which have been improving in recent months. Laah Hyun-kyung, Arirang News. Title: Satellite images seem to capture N. Korean exe