Kim Jong-un’s possible trip to Russia could be like his 2019 journey: 20 hours on his armored train

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Reports that Kim Jong-un may travel to Russia soon have drawn attention to the traditional method of travel for North Korean leaders: luxury, armored trains that have long been a part of the dynasty’s lore and are symbols of its deep isolation.

Kim may potentially travel to Russia this month, marking his first international trip since the beginning of the pandemic. The purpose of this visit, according to a U.S. official, could be a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is speculated that the discussions might revolve around North Korean arms sales, which could potentially assist in replenishing Russia’s depleted reserves due to its conflict with Ukraine.

The U.S. reports suggest that the two leaders may have a meeting in Vladivostok, which is located in the eastern part of Russia. This city was the venue for their initial meeting in April 2019, where Kim arrived by his distinctive green-and-yellow train. Putin is anticipated to be present in Vladivostok for the annual Eastern Economic Forum, which takes place from Sunday to Wednesday.

The reports arrive during a period when the leaders’ interests are coinciding due to their increasing, individual conflicts with the United States.

The media is currently interested in whether Kim will be able to take the long 20-hour train journey again, and also in the opulent train that is said to be very different from the extreme poverty experienced by most North Koreans on a daily basis.

Kim Jong-il, who was known for his fear of flying, only traveled overseas a few times during his 17-year reign, primarily to China and always by train. According to North Korea’s state media, Kim Jong-il passed away from a heart attack while on a train journey in 2011.

According to an account published in 2002 by Konstantin Pulikovsky, a Russian official who accompanied Kim Jong ll on a three-week trip to Moscow, the train carried cases of expensive French wine and passengers could feast on fresh lobster and pork barbeque.

The primary focus of the train, however, lies in ensuring security. As per reports from South Korean media, North Korea possesses a total of 90 specialized carriages and operates three trains simultaneously when a leader is on the move. These three trains consist of an advance train responsible for inspecting the rails, the train carrying the leader and their close associates, and a third train accommodating everyone else. Advanced communication devices and flat-screen televisions are installed to enable the leader to issue commands and receive updates.

In a sign of the trains’ symbolic importance, a life-size mock-up of one of the carriages is on permanent display at a mausoleum on the outskirts of Pyongyang where the embalmed bodies of Kim Jong-il and his state-founding father, Kim Il-sung, lie in state.

Kim, aged 39, has utilized his family’s fortified train for prior gatherings with Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018 and 2019.

But he does sometimes fly, unlike his father. Schooled for several years in Switzerland, Kim Jong-un is believed to have traveled by air often as a teenager.

In 2018, he traveled by air to the city of Dalian in northeastern China to meet with Xi. This marked the first instance of a North Korean leader publicly going abroad by air since Kim Il Sung’s journey to the Soviet Union in 1986.

Kim’s official plane is a remodeled version of the Soviet-made IL-62. North Korea calls it “Chammae-1,” named after the goshawk, North Korea’s national bird. South Korean media say the plane can carry about 200 people and its maximum range is about 9,200 kilometers (5,700 miles) but it has reportedly never flown that far.

According to Gleb Karakulov, a defector from Putin’s secretive elite security service, Putin now chooses to refrain from using airplanes and instead opts for a specially fortified train for his travels. This change in transportation preference is believed to have occurred after his decision to invade Ukraine in early 2022.

Kim’s earlier meeting with Putin required a daylong trip that began at the North Korean capital of Pyongyang and chugged over the country’s aging railways along the eastern coast before crossing a river that serves as the border with Russia.

Some analysts are skeptical that another meeting would occur on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum because Kim and his predecessors have preferred stand-alone summitry when making rare trips abroad

Kim traveled to China a total of four times between 2018 and 2019 to meet with Xi. Two of these trips were made by train, while the other two were on his private jet. In June 2018, Kim borrowed a Chinese plane to meet Trump in Singapore, as his own jet was considered unsafe. When meeting with Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, Kim opted for a 2½-day train journey.

Kim has not had any encounters with foreign leaders since he closed his country’s borders in early 2020 as a precautionary measure against the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Yang Moo-jin, the president of the University of North Korean Studies in South Korea, Kim’s potential return to Russia might indicate a renewal of summit-focused diplomacy. Additionally, there is a possibility of Kim visiting China to hold a meeting with Xi.