The slow train from North Korea: How Kim Jong-un is travelling to China

SEOUL: North Korea ’s Kim Jong-un left Pyongyang by train on Monday on his way to Beijing , Yonhap news agency reported, relying on a slow but specialised form of transport that the country’s leaders have used for decades.

It was not clear which train he used, but in the past he has used bulletproof trains that offer a safer and more comfortable space for a large entourage, security guards, food and amenities, and a place to discuss agendas ahead of meetings, experts say. Since becoming the head in late 2011, Kim has used a train to visit China, Vietnam, and Russia.

It is unclear how many trains North Korean leaders have used over the years, but Ahn Byung-min, a South Korean expert on North Korean transportation, has said multiple trains were needed for security reasons.

Ahn said those trains have 10 to 15 carriages each, some of which are used only by the leader, such as a bedroom, but others carry security guards and medical staff. They also usually have space for Kim’s office, communications equipment, a restaurant, and several car transportation carriages for two armoured Mercedes, he added.

A video released in 2018 by North Korean state TV showed Kim meeting with top Chinese officials in a wide train car ringed with pink couches. The video also showed the carriage housing Kim’s office, with a desk and chair, and a map of China and the Korean peninsula.
In 2020, state TV footage showed Kim riding a train to visit a typhoon-hit area, offering a glimpse of a carriage decorated with flower-shaped lighting and zebra-printed fabric chairs.

When Kim Jong-un took the train to Russia, including in 2023 for a summit with President Putin, its wheel assemblies had to be reconfigured at a border station because the two countries use different rail gauges, Ahn said.

While there is no such requirement for China, a Chinese locomotive pulls the train once it crosses the border, because a local engineer knows the rail system and signals, said Kim Han-tae, a South Korean former train engineer.

Ahn noted the serial numbers were either 0001 or 0002, suggesting China was providing him with engines reserved for the most senior officials. The train can reach speeds of up to 80kms/hr on China’s network, compared with a maximum of about 45kms/ hr on North Korea’s tracks, Ahn said. North Korea’s founding leader, Kim Il Sung, Kim’s grandfather, travelled abroad by train regularly until his death in 1994.

(Taken from Reuters)