North Korean leader Kim Jong Un travelled to China by train. He is expected to participate in a military parade that commemorates Japan’s surrender in World War II. Kim is among 26 world leaders invited by China. The ceremony celebrates the 80th anniversary of the end of the war. Kim, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin will be together at the same event for the first time.
According to the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper, Kim’s train crossed the China-North Korea border in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
“Key senior officials from the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are accompanying Comrade Kim Jong Un on his visit to the People’s Republic of China,” the paper reported, using North Korea’s official name.
Why Kim Jong Un Prefers To Travel By Armored Train
Kim is traveling aboard his heavily fortified train, last used in 2023 for a summit with Putin. The train is known for its slow pace, reportedly not exceeding 60 kilometers per hour, making the trip to Beijing an all-day journey.
The North Korean leader was personally invited by Xi Jinping to the parade. South Korea’s intelligence agency has suggested that Kim may stand alongside Xi and Putin on the Tiananmen Square rostrum.
The train is a political and personal legacy from Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, who avoided flying and relied almost exclusively on rail for foreign travel.
During his 17-year rule, Kim Jong Il made around a dozen overseas trips, nearly all to China, using the same train. He was on a train when he died of a heart attack in 2011, according to North Korean state media.
Does Kim Jong Un Travel By Plane?
While his father never traveled abroad by air, Kim Jong Un has occasionally flown both domestically and internationally.
In May 2018, he flew to Dalian, China, for a summit with Xi, becoming the first North Korean leader since state founder Kim Il Sung’s 1986 Soviet Union visit to travel abroad by plane.
The following month, he borrowed a Chinese aircraft to attend his first meeting with President Donald Trump in Singapore, after reports that his own plane was deemed unsafe.
For his 2019 summit with Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, Kim chose the train once again.
Kim Jong Un’s Official Aircraft, Cars And More
Kim’s official aircraft, “Chammae-1,” is a modified Soviet-made IL-62, named after North Korea’s national bird, the goshawk. Reports from South Korea indicate it can carry about 200 passengers and has a maximum range of 9,200 kilometers (5,700 miles), though it has never flown that distance. The leader has also used the plane for military inspections and domestic trips.
Beyond trains and planes, Kim maintains a collection of luxury foreign-made vehicles, many believed to have been smuggled in defiance of United Nations sanctions.
During his 2023 Russia visit, Kim used a Maybach limousine transported in one of his train carriages. On his 2019 trip to Vladivostok, two high-end cars awaited him – a Mercedes-Maybach S600 Pullman Guard and a Maybach S62. The S600 Pullman Guard was also used during his summits with Trump in Singapore and Hanoi.
In 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin presented Kim with a Russian-made Aurus Senat limousine as a gift.
In addition to cars and planes, Kim is often photographed riding white horses. State media in 2019 released images of Kim on horseback at a sacred mountain, shortly after the collapse of his Hanoi summit with Trump.
Also Read: Why Does Kim Jong Un Travel Abroad On His Green Train That Runs At THIS Extremely Slow Speed?
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
