Diplomacy: Kim Jong Un: On the private train to Russia to Putin

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un not only rarely goes on trips abroad, but these are also often shrouded in secrecy. This time too, it took two days before North Korea’s state media reported on the departure of Kim’s private train on Sunday from the capital Pyongyang to Russia.

Today, Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov confirmed that Kim had now arrived in the country with his armored train. A planned meeting with President Vladimir Putin will take place in the Russian Far East. But Peskov did not say where and when exactly this would happen. There was speculation that the meeting might take place today or tomorrow in the city of Vladivostok, which Kim had already visited in April 2019.

Train travel as a tradition

It is Kim’s first trip to Russia in more than four years. And it is the first time since the beginning of the corona pandemic that he has left his strictly isolated area of ​​​​dominion. However, North Korea recently allowed commercial flights to and from China and Russia again.

However, when Kim takes the rail route again like she does now, it’s a tradition. Even the grandfather and “eternal president” Kim Il Sung and his father Kim Jong Il went on long trips abroad by train during their reign. Kim Jong Il is said to have died on a train at the end of 2011. The former ruler was said to be afraid of flying.

Kim Jong Un, on the other hand, has already traveled abroad by plane. An Air China passenger plane took him to Singapore for his historic summit with former US President Donald Trump in June 2018, when the issue of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program was discussed. However, he took the bulletproof train again to the second, ultimately inconclusive summit with Trump in February 2019 in Vietnam – at that time he covered a distance of around 4,500 kilometers.

What you know about the train

Images from North Korean state media now indicate that not much has changed on the outside of Kim Jong Un’s special train since his father’s days. The olive green paintwork with the distinctive yellow stripe and the tinted windows are typical. “Kim’s luxurious, bulletproof train is known to be equipped with communications technology necessary to use it as a mobile office,” wrote the South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo.

Observers in South Korea estimated that Kim and his entourage would travel more than 1,000 kilometers and take at least 20 hours to reach Vladivostok. The special train normally moves at an average speed of 60 kilometers per hour.

It is said that the train cannot move any faster because of the heavy armored carriages. Previous, extremely rare photos of the interior of one of the train’s 20 or so carriages revealed pink leather chairs. The floor was covered with wood and curtains hung on the windows.

South Korea observes meeting

North Korea’s state media reported that Kim boarded his train accompanied by representatives of the ruling Workers’ Party, government and military. Given the large number of military representatives accompanying Kim, South Korea will closely monitor whether there will be negotiations between North Korea and Russia over arms supplies, said a Defense Ministry spokesman in Seoul.

The USA and its ally South Korea fear that Putin wants weapons and ammunition from North Korea for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. In return, Russia could offer its neighbors technological know-how for satellites or for the construction of nuclear submarines.

According to observers in South Korea, Kim is interested in more than just arms deals. Accordingly, he wants to take a stronger stance against the USA’s growing military cooperation with South Korea and Japan. Moscow and Pyongyang have repeatedly confirmed in recent months that they want to expand their cooperation.