North Korean leader Kim Jong-un takes his signature train to Beijing ahead of military parade

As dozens of world leaders descend on Beijing for a large military parade on Tuesday, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un is set to arrive in his distinctive green train.

The North Korean leader left Pyongyang on Monday to participate in China’s 80th anniversary commemoration of Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II.

The event, which will be attended by foreign presidents — most notably, Russia’s Vladimir Putin — will see military hardware and thousands of Chinese soldiers process through the Chinese capital.

Kim is being accompanied on his armoured train by top officials including Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

The train entered China early on Tuesday and is due to reach Beijing by the afternoon, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service reported.

Why does Kim Jong-un travel by train?

Fitted with bedrooms and meeting rooms, Kim’s private train appears to be his preferred mode of transport.

Since inheriting power in 2011, Kim has taken the train abroad on numerous occasions.

As well as visiting China, the North Korean leader has travelled via rail to the Vietnamese capital Hanoi in 2019, a journey that lasted almost three days, and to Russia’s eastern city of Vladivostok in 2023.

According to South Korean newspaper reports, Kim’s train is so heavily armoured that it only travels at around 60 kilometres an hour, meaning that it takes roughly 20 hours to reach Beijing from Pyongyang.

Although his father and predecessor Kim Jong-il was rumoured to be afraid of flying, that does not seem to be the case with the current North Korean ruler, who flew to a meeting with US President Donald Trump in Singapore in 2018.

While North Korea remains one of the poorest countries in the world due to sanctions and isolationist politics, both Kim Jong-il and his father Kim Il-sung are said to have hosted opulent dinners on the train.

According to witnesses, the onboard service included lobster and pork barbecue, as well as expensive French wines.

The train also has an auditorium and is decked out in flatscreen TVs and a satellite phone link, reports claim. Around 20 new stations were built specifically for the Kim dynasty train prior to Kim Jong-un's reign.

North Korean relations with China and Russia

Kim's trip to China marks his first to the country since 2019 and the fifth visit he has made during his 14-year rule.

In what will be his first appearance at a major multilateral event, it is expected that Kim will hold bilateral meetings with both Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Speaking to Russia’s state-run Tass news agency on Sunday, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said a meeting between Putin and Kim was “under consideration”.

Kim may also stand beside the Chinese and Russian leaders in Tiananmen Square during Wednesday’s parade, Seoul’s intelligence service suggested.

While North Korean relations with Russia have grown closer in recent years as a result of their cooperation over the Kremlin’s all-out war in Ukraine, Pyongyang’s ties with China have reportedly weakened.

Analysts believe that Kim will be eager to improve relations with Beijing, which is North Korea’s largest trading partner.

He will also use his time in Beijing to speak to other world leaders as part of efforts to reduce his country’s isolation on the international stage, they say.