Kim Jong-un Takes 60-Hour Train Through China for 2nd Summit with Trump

By Ryan Gandolfo, February 26, 2019

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has already arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam and US President Donald Trump is slated to land later today, with meetings set for Wednesday and Thursday in a second summit between the two world leaders.

Image via @themegaagency/Instagram

Rather than flying directly to Vietnam from the DPRK, Kim reportedly took a 60-hour train ride across China to get a firsthand look at China’s achievements in the 40 years since the nation launched its Reform and Opening-up policy, according to Global Times. The state-run newspaper also noted that the multi-day China trip would allow Kim and his delegation the chance to develop their own ideas for North Korea’s economic development in the future.

Image via @themegaagency/Instagram

Big Think reported that Kim’s special train is composed of 21 carriages and comes with bullet-proof armor plating, which has reduced the train’s top speed to 56 kilometers per hour (35 miles per hour).

So, where exactly did the North Korean leader travel through in China?

While much of Kim’s trip has been kept secret, South Korea-based news agency Yonhap has reported that Kim’s train passed through Tianjin, Changsha and Hengyang, among others, on its route to Dong Dang, a Vietnamese town on the border with China. From his arrival at Dong Dang station, Kim was said to have traveled to Hanoi by car, with the Vietnamese government closing a section of the highway that links the two cities between 6am and 2pm on Tuesday.

As for the Hanoi summit, Trump and Kim are expected to have a brief one-on-one meeting on Wednesday followed by a private dinner, according to White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. The two will continue discussions carried over from their first summit in Singapore in June 2018, which mostly focused on an action plan to denuclearize the DPRK.

[Cover image via @环球网/Weibo]