Tag: Kim Jong-un

Kim Jong-un is on his way to Vietnam:

 

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s special train raced through central China on Monday, traveling for the third day en route to Vietnam for a summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump. 
The train passed through the central Chinese city of Hengyang of Hunan Province around 3:30 p.m. after briefly stopping at the city of Changsha earlier in the afternoon and heading south. 
The route, which does not pass through the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, is regarded as the shortest way of moving from Pyongyang to Vietnam.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like Kim Jong-un is using the Vietnam summit as a mini-vacation by taking a train trip through China:

North Korea leader Kim Jong-un is expected to travel to Vietnam by train for his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, slated for next week, a news report said Wednesday.
Kim is expected to leave Pyongyang later this week for his planned arrival in the Southeast Asian nation on Monday, as it could take him at least two and a half days to travel through China, Reuters reported, citing sources with direct knowledge of security and logistics planning.
Trump and Kim are set to hold their second summit from Feb. 27-28. 
“Kim’s train will stop at the Vietnamese border station of Dong Dang, where he will disembark and drive 170 kilometers to Hanoi by car,” the report said.

Yonhap

I would not be surprised if he used the Chinese plane again just for safety purposes; a train journey from North Korea to Vietnam just seems too long of a trip to take though it would be a pretty awesome way to see China:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un flew to Singapore on a rented Air China plane, instead of his aged official jet, last June for his first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. What he will use to travel to Vietnam’s Hanoi for a second meeting with Trump is a point of speculation that will likely remain a mystery until his arrival there.
Many say Kim is likely to fly on the state jet, codenamed “Chammae-1,” this time because the distance of travel, about 2,760 km, is only slightly more than half of the 4,700 km flown last June, and the Soviet-era jet, even if it’s aged, can sufficiently cover the flight.
But others say that Kim could rent a plane from China again if he places priority on safety. 
Some even suggest that he could use his special train to travel all the way to the Southeast Asian nation through China for the Feb. 27-28 summit, just as he traveled to the neighboring nation by train last month, noting that Vietnam also has the same rail specifications as North Korea.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like Japanese Prime Minister Abe wants to try his hand at Trump style diplomacy with Kim Jong-un:

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday made public his determination to have talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a bid to normalize bilateral diplomatic relations.
In a policy speech to the Diet, Abe said he will “act decisively without losing any opportunity” to settle the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by the communist nation decades ago and its nuclear and missile programs.
“(We) should break the shell of mutual mistrust in order to resolve the North Korean nuclear and missile issue, and the most important issue of abduction,” he said. “The goal is to settle the unfortunate history with North Korea and normalize diplomatic relations.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I don’t know what’s worse, Secretary of State Pompeo referring to Chairman Un or CNN North Korea “expert” Will Ripley’s “Chol” f-up. Does this mean they think Kim Jong Un, his dad, and grandad all shared the same first name Kim, but had different last names – Sung, Il, and Un? https://t.co/mJ03PdsnGg

— Edward Oh 🇺🇸 (@EdwardHBOh) January 16, 2019

If Kim Jong-un was going to visit on any day, I am sure the Moon administration would love for it to be March 1st. The hope will be that conservative protesters against Kim’s visit will be muted because of a large dislike of the Japanese in South Korea that tends to reach a crescendo on the March 1st Independence Day which celebrates an uprising against Japanese colonial occupation back in 1919.

Is North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visiting Seoul on March 1? 

Reports of this began circulating Wednesday, citing unidentified government sources. Some had plausible details: for the leaders of the two Koreas to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement Day ― on the date and at the same location. 

The uprising on March 1, 1919 ― celebrated by both Koreas ― is recorded as one of the marquee grassroots independence movements during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. 

Presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday denied reports that Kim would visit Seoul on the historically symbolic day. Nevertheless, the speculation continues.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but if this visit does in fact happen I would expect there to be a large anti-Japanese buildup to try and unite most South Koreans before the Kim Jong-un visit.

Here is the latest on a second Trump-Kim summit:

United States President Donald Trump has reportedly proposed holding the second summit talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in mid-February in Vietnam.

Quoting a source familiar with the matter, Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun daily reported on Sunday that North Korea is reviewing the U.S. proposal and has yet to give a formal response.

The report said that Indonesia and Mongolia are also being mentioned as possible candidates, but Vietnam is actually being considered as a venue.

Yomiuri said the focus of the second summit, if held, would be how the two sides will reach agreement on the North’s steps for denuclearization and the corresponding measures by the United States.

KBS World Radio

It seems to me that Kim Jong-un would only show up to this summit if he felt that he is going to get something he wants like dropping sanctions for little to nothing in return. I guess we will see what happens.