FILE - Journalists film then North Korean Ambassador to China Ji Jae Ryong as he leaves after giving a press conference at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Monday, May 15, 2017. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. Ji Jae-Ryong, 79, has been apart from his family for years even though his replacement arrived last February, two sources familiar with the matter say. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)