Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
Kim's train steals spotlight ahead of summit
Workers inspect the Dong Dang railway station in Lang Son Province, Monday, which North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is expected to arrive at before proceeding to Hanoi for a second U.S.-North Korea summit. / AFP-Yonhap
By Park Ji-won
By Park Ji-won
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un departed for Hanoi on his armored train Saturday for his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump on Feb. 27 and 28, fueling speculation about his choice of transport.
Kim will travel 4,500 kilometers over the next few days, passing through industrial cities in southern China and northern Vietnam before arriving in the Vietnamese capital in a train whose top speed is estimated at 60 kilometers per hour.
He will cross the country to Nanning in southern China before crossing into Vietnam at the Lang Son border. From there, it is expected that Kim will take a car to Hanoi.
This is in contrast to the North Korean leader's choice of travel for his first summit with Trump in Singapore, when he traveled in a Chinese plane.
It remains unclear why he chose to take the train rather than fly, and thus much speculation has circulated over the meaning of this.
The trip has received much media coverage, as some newspapers focused on the train trip, while others concentrated on the summit agenda.
Many experts say the decision was a move by Kim to show off North Korea's close ties with China.
Shin Beom-chul, a senior director of the research division at Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said, “Prior to the negotiations with the U.S., the trip by train is likely aimed at showing off the relationship between North Korea and China.”
When passing through cities in China, security measures need to be taken by local governments. This implies that Pyongyang and Beijing had talked closely about the route Kim was taking to Vietnam.
Also, there is speculation that after his meeting with Trump, Kim may stop at a city in China on his way back to Pyongyang to look at facilities in industrial parks or to meet with President Xi Jinping to discuss the outcome of the summit.
Some say Kim's use of a train is aimed at promoting him as a hero by impressing the North Korean people about his legitimacy through tracing the path taken by his grandfather, North Korea founder Kim Il-sung.
Kim's route partly follows that of his grandfather's first trip to Vietnam in 1958. Back then, the North Korean leader took a train from Pyongyang to Beijing where he met with the Chinese leadership and visited several Chinese cities. He then flew to Hanoi from Guangzhou. Also, Kim's father Kim Jong-il took a train to Moscow in Russia in 2001, taking almost a week to get there.
Tak Hyun-min, former protocol presidential aide to President Moon Jae-in and a political consultant for Cheong Wa Dae, said it was a good decision to take a train to Hanoi for many reasons.
“First of all, Kim's travel itself became news. It generated enough stories and has historical implications,” he said.
“Also, as we, and the world, witnessed the fact that Pyongyang and Vietnam are connected by rail, which could be an obvious fact, we could embrace expectations that a train from Busan could go to Vietnam and Southeast Asian countries via North Korea when the Koreas are united.”