The odds are that he will fly his Russian made Il-62M aircraft to Singapore despite his plane having never flown that far before:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un gets on his official airplane Chammae-1 after his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Dalian in China’s Liaoning Province on May 7-8. (Korea Central News Agency
How will North Korean leader Kim Jong-un travel the 4,700km to Singapore, where the North Korea-US summit will be taking place on June 12? Since a train journey from North Korea to Singapore is out of the question, attention is focusing on Kim’s official airplane, Chammae-1 (meaning goshawk, North Korea’s national bird).On May 7, Kim flew Chammae-1 to Dalian in China’s Liaoning Province to hold his second summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Pyongyang and Dalian are about 360km apart in a direct line. Chammae-1, a souped-up IL-62M of Soviet manufacture, is equipped with four engines, which gives it a maximum flight distance of 9,000-10,000km. These specifications make it fully capable of reaching Singapore, which is about 4,700km away from Pyongyang.But safety concerns have also been raised since Kim’s jet is old and has never attempted a long flight before. The IL-62M, an upgraded version of the IL-62 model that was developed in 1967, entered production in 1975 and was discontinued in 1995.“[Chammae-1] is presumed to have been manufactured in 1985, and provided that it’s in good repair, it will have no problem flying to Singapore. But since it has no experience with long-distance flight and may not have been serviced properly, it probably presents a dilemma [for North Korea],” said a source in the South Korean government.
In Nov. 2014, Choe Ryong-hae, vice chairman of the Korean Workers’ Party (KWP), was reportedly on a flight to Russia as a special envoy for Kim Jong-un when a problem with his aircraft forced him to return to Pyongyang and restart his journey. The aircraft that Choe and his party were on was apparently also an IL-62. This is leading to speculation that Kim may have a stopover in China or borrow a large charter plane from China. [Hankyoreh]
You can read more at the link, but I seriously doubt Kim Jong-un would take a charter plane from China to Singapore. It would be too embarrassing in my opinion for him to show up in Singapore not flying in a state sponsored aircraft.
Considering that in the past the North Koreans have shot down a US reconnaissance aircraft that did not have a fighter escort, I would imagine the US military would never allow their strategic bombers to fly without a fighter escort thus making the North Koreans threats pretty irrelevant. Could you imagine their the turkey shoot US aircraft would have against antiquated North Korean MIGs?:
North Korea’s foreign minister said Monday that President Trump has declared war on the reclusive nation and that Pyongyang has the right to shoot down U.S. military aircraft.
“Since the United States declared war on our country, we have every right to take counter measures,” Ri Yong Ho told the media as he was leaving the United Nations. “Including shooting down U.S. strategic bombers, even when they are not yet inside the airspace border of our country.” [USA Today]
Voice of America (VOA) reported that Google Earth revealed the satellite images taken by France’s space center Centre Nationale d’Etudes Spatiales and Airbus on May 20. The images shows 20 fighters that appear to be MiG-19 and MiG-21 about one-point-six kilometers southwest of the airport terminal and three more fighters 800 meters off the back of the terminal. The VOA said that all the 23 fighters can be moved to the runways and main buildings of the airport. The report said that a large number of fighters were never spotted at the airport except during the 2015 air show, suspecting that the North is utilizing the airport for military purposes. [KBS World Radio]
Here is yet another example of China allowing North Korea to evade sanctions to purchase aircraft with military utility:
One of the planes displayed during North Korea’s first air show last month was made in New Zealand with American parts, underscoring the difficulties of implementing sanctions when North Korea’s long border with China remains so porous.
North Korea put on quite the display at the Wonsan International Friendship Air Festival, held at the recently upgraded Kalma airport on the country’s east coast. Planes featured included a one-sixth size version of an American F-16 fighter jet and Soviet-era MiGs flown by female pilots known as “flowers of the sky.” There also was a two-hour-long aerobatic display by North Korea’s air force.
The air show is thought to have been inspired by Kim Jong Un’s fascination with all things aviation. The North Korean leader has been featured in state media piloting light aircraft and has a summer residence in Wonsan, where the renovation of the airport is thought to be linked to his love of flying.
Aviation enthusiasts have now traced one of the planes on display – a white, 10-seater P-750 XSTOL with a North Korean flag on its tail — to Pacific Aerospace, an aviation company based in Hamilton, New Zealand.
New Zealand’s Foreign Ministry is investigating how the plane ended up in North Korea, the New Zealand Herald reported.
Pacific Aerospace sold the plane last December through its Chinese agent, Beijing General Aviation Company, to a Chinese company called Free Sky Aviation, Damian Camp, the company’s chief executive, said in a phone interview. It remains registered with the Chinese civil aviation authority, he said.
Camp said he was “completely mystified” to learn that the plane had shown up in North Korea with a North Korean flag on it. [Washington Post via a reader tip]
You can read more at the link as well as view video of the aircraft at this link.
