North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, is reportedly preparing to embark on a luxurious rail journey to eastern Russia, where he is anticipated to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The purpose of the meeting, according to U.S. officials earlier this week, is to discuss the potential supply of weapons to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The 39-year-old Kim Jong Un's private train service is a legacy from his father, the late dictator Kim Jong Il. The train was established due to a fear of flying. The train cars are bulletproof, and the convoy is not designed for speed.
The weight of the armored protection limits the train's average speed to a mere 37 mph. This is in stark contrast to Amtrak's Acela Express, which reaches 150 mph, and France's TGV, the world's fastest train, which exceeds 357 mph.
The train is believed to be equipped with conference rooms adorned with dark wood paneling, multiple bedrooms, satellite phones, and flat-screen TVs. Approximately 100 security agents are also onboard, tasked with scanning routes and upcoming stations for potential threats such as bombs.
The dining car is staffed with chefs ready to prepare a variety of cuisines, including Russian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and French. According to a 2002 account by Russian official Konstantin Pulikovsky, who traveled with Kim Jong Il, live lobsters and other delicacies are flown in fresh. The train also stocks barbecue, Bordeaux, and Beaujolais.
Kim Jong Il was known for his particular tastes on the train. Pulikovsky wrote about an incident in Omsk where Kim Jong Il was displeased with a serving of fried Russian dumplings. "Kim Jong Il picked at them with a fork and said: 'What kind of pelmeni are these? They should be big, boiled and in broth.'"
The New York Times has reported that the current leader's diet leans towards Swiss cheese, Cristal Champagne, and Hennessy cognac. To add a touch of entertainment to the journey, a group of female performers, referred to as "beautiful lady conductors," would often serenade the elder Kim in Korean and Russian.
To ensure security, a separate train precedes and follows the convoy, which has reportedly consisted of as many as 90 carriages. Kim Jong Un's next journey could be as soon as Sunday to the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, some 425 miles away from Pyongyang.
The New York Times also reported that Kim plans to travel via his armored train to Russia's Pier 33, where anti-submarine ships monitor the Pacific port city, and possibly make a stop in Moscow. This expected journey will mark Kim's first foreign travel since North Korea closed its borders in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kim and Putin last met in April 2019 in Vladivostok, Russia, where the North Korean leader arrived after a 20-hour ride aboard his fortified green-and-yellow train. Kim's slow-moving caravan has previously taken him to Beijing for secret talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2018 and to Vietnam to meet President Trump in 2019.
Around 20 stations have been built throughout North Korea specifically to accommodate these trains, which have attracted the attention of South Korean and U.S. intelligence operatives using reconnaissance aircraft and other methods.
A mausoleum outside Pyongyang, where the bodies of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung lie in state, features a replica of the luxurious train carriages.
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