Kim Jong Un Travels to Russia, His Bulletproof Train Spotted Ahead of Putin Meeting
SEOUL—As North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to Russia, he likely did so in the preferred manner of Pyongyang’s ruling family: cloaked in secrecy, self-protection and style. Kim, the third-generation dictator, plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, state media from both countries said on Monday—the first official confirmation of the summit between the two leaders. The reports didn’t specify when or where specifically the exchange will take place.
Kim “will meet and have a talk with Comrade Putin," North Korea’s state media said. The trip will mark the North Korean dictator’s first overseas trip in more than four years. Earlier on Monday, Kim’s personal, bulletproof train had left Pyongyang and been spotted en route toward Russia, according to a South Korean government official.
U.S. officials had said they expected Kim to soon meet with Putin, where the two could advance talks about a sale of Pyongyang’s munitions to help Moscow replenish its supplies for its war in Ukraine. Putin on Monday and Tuesday is scheduled to travel to Vladivostok, about 750 miles from Pyongyang, and take part in the Eastern Economic Forum, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in a report carried by Russia’s state-run TASS news agency.
Kim and Putin met in Vladivostok in 2019, their only in-person exchange to date. Peskov told a Russian media outlet on Monday that there were no plans for talks between Putin and Kim at the economic forum, which ends Wednesday. Vladivostok, on Russia’s east coast, is close enough for Kim to reach by train in a day.
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