A selected group of world leaders rolled into Beijing for a massive military parade on Wednesday, so he went his way with his signature armored green train, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The old-fashioned train has become a symbol of Kim’s dynasty and his remote country. It has long been the subject of conspiracy, carrying generations of Kim family across the country and taking rare international travels.
North Korean provincial media Rodong Shin-moon confirmed early Tuesday that Kim’s train had crossed the border to China, with a photo of the leader smiling at the train, sitting at a wooden table with a North Korean flag behind him. He is accompanied by senior officials including Foreign Minister Cho Son Hui, according to the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to North Korean state media, South Korea Central News Agency, Kim and his aides arrived in Beijing at 4pm local time (4am ET). The photos showed Kim’s daughter walking as part of the group.
They reported that the country’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Mayor of Beijing In Yong, and other high-ranking Chinese officials were welcomed.
The representative met “in a warm atmosphere,” KCNA reported, adding that North Korean leaders thanked Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for his country’s hospitality.
Kim’s father and predecessor Kim Jong Il reportedly disliked flying and relied heavily on trains, according to Reuters.
In one example in 2002, Russian state media showed the image of the train (yellow striped green) when Kim Jong Il visited Russia during a brief period of relaxed sanctions that allowed for greater involvement with the outside world.
Both Kim’s father and grandfather reportedly hosted a gorgeous dinner on board. One account, issued in 2002 by Russian civil servant Konstantin Pulikovsky, claimed that the train was carrying cases of Bordeaux and Beaujolais wine from Paris, with passengers feasting live lobster and pork barbecue.
However, with international sanctions returning in 2003, its short openness and luxury quickly ended. Although information from isolated countries now reaches the outside world, much of the country has shown serious poverty and malnutrition in most parts of the country.
The trains are also moving slowly and closely secure. According to a 2009 report by the Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo, it is very heavily armored, and travels at an average speed of 60 km (about 37 miles).
It was reported at the time that it included meeting rooms, audience rooms and bedrooms, with satellite phone connections and flat-screen TVs. Around 20 stations were built for the family trains during Kim Il’s time, the paper said.
Kim used to travel by plane or private jet, but has used the train on several trips abroad.
Kim took the train during his last international visit – on a 2023 trip to the Russian Far East, meet his counterpart Vladimir Putin. Photos released by the state media of the time offer a glimpse of the locomotive, showing refined wooden floors and ornately decorated white doorways.
Footage from state media released in 2022 shows Kim on a train working in his office, and relaxing on board while smoking a cigarette in a short-sleeved shirt, according to the Korean press, Yonhap.
And during a 2018 trip when Kim met Chinese leader Xi Jinping, footage from North Korean state media showed Chinese officials on a train greeting Kim. The delegation sat in two rows of pink sofas and gave a speech on the bow, the photos show.
In addition to international travel, the train has also been featured in the state propaganda, with the Kim family on a long train journey to meet ordinary North Koreans, Reuters reported.
A life-size model of one of the train’s carriages is on display at Spirit US outside Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, where the ruins of Kim’s father and grandfather are kept.
