North Korea ? After Kim Jong Il’s safe return, North Korea confirmed what for days had been clear: the Dear Leader was on a not-so-secret trip to northeastern China.

Kim hobnobbed with top Chinese officials, including President Hu Jintao, toured factories and paid a nostalgic trip down Kim family memory lane, according to Chinese and North Korean state media — possibly, rumor had it, accompanied by the son many believe is being groomed to succeed him as North Korea’s next leader.

There was no sign of Kim Jong Un, the 20-something son said to be in his favor, and there was no mention of him in either nation’s dispatches about the five-day trip that ended Monday and was shrouded in typical secrecy.