Kim Jong Un’s possible trip to Russia could be like his 2019 journey. 20 hours on his armoured train
The Hindu
Kim Jong Un may travel to Russia soon, possibly to discuss North Korean arms sales. His father and grandfather before him travelled by armoured train, a symbol of the dynasty's deep isolation. Kim has used the train for previous meetings with Putin and Xi, but also flies, having been schooled in Switzerland. He has not met any foreign leader since closing his country's borders in 2020. #KimJongUn #Russia #luxurytrain #symbol #deepisolation #security #armouredtrain #Putin #Xi #Trump #COVID-19 #summit-driven diplomacy #China #EasternEconomicForum
Reports that Kim Jong Un may travel to Russia soon have drawn attention to the traditional method of travel for North Korean leaders: luxury, armoured trains that have long been a part of the dynasty's lore and are symbols of its deep isolation.
In what would be his first foreign travel since the start of the pandemic, Mr. Kim may visit Russia this month for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a U.S. official has said, possibly to discuss North Korean arms sales to refill Russian reserves drained by its war on Ukraine.
According to U.S. reports, the two leaders could meet in the eastern city of Vladivostok, the site of their first get-together in April 2019, when Mr. Kim took his green-and-yellow train. Mr. Putin is expected in the city for the annual Eastern Economic Forum that runs from Sunday to Wednesday.
The reports come at a time when the leaders' interests are aligning in the face of their deepening, separate confrontations with the United States.
Whether Mr. Kim could again make the rattling 20-hour journey by rail is a focus of media attention, as is the reportedly luxurious train, which stands in sharp contrast to the grinding poverty of daily life for most North Koreans.
Mr. Kim's famously flight-averse father, Kim Jong Il, made about a dozen trips abroad during his 17-year rule, almost all to China and all by train. North Korea's state media said that the elder Kim died of a heart attack during a train trip 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.
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