The North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, today toured a Buick plant run in a venture with General Motors.

Apparently Mr. Kim, who also visited the city's stock exchange, is interested in seeing how economic reforms have reshaped this city since he last visited here in 1983.

China's prime minister, Zhu Rongji, flew in from Beijing to accompany the reclusive North Korean leader whose visit was kept so secret that few residents knew he was here.

At the General Motors plant, the Chinese president of the joint venture showed Mr. Kim around.

Mr. Kim is a renowned lover of luxury automobiles, but few employees at the Buick plant were allowed to see him. . A group visiting from Thunderbird, the American Graduate School of International Management, in Arizona, was even trapped in a conference room at the Buick plant by the blanket of security that descended when Mr. Kim's entourage unexpectedly arrived.