Tag: Kim Jong-un

Picture of the Day: Kim Jong-un Tours SU-35 Plant in Russia

N. Korean leader visits aircraft plant
N. Korean leader visits aircraft plant
This photo, released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 16, 2023, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) during his visit to the Yuri Gagarin Aviation Plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a city in Russia’s far eastern region, the previous day. The plant produces advanced fighter jets, including the Sukhoi Su-35. (Yonhap)

Kim Jong-un’s Train Departs on a Over 1,000 Kilometer Journey Across the Russian Far East After Summit with Putin

Kim Jong-un is going on a long train ride through the Russian Far East. It does make me wonder when he is gone this long how does he maintain secure communications with his underlings back in Pyongyang? May he has a Starlink terminal on his train. 😉

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (rear) boards his special train after holding a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East on Sept. 13, 2023, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency the next day. Kim invited Putin to visit his country. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (rear) boards his special train after holding a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East on Sept. 13, 2023, in this photo released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency the next day. Kim invited Putin to visit his country.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s special train appears to be moving toward Russia’s Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk on Thursday, a day after his rare summit with President Vladimir Putin, according to sources. 

According to the sources, Kim’s olive green, bullet-proof train appears headed toward the Russian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, where he will visit an aircraft factory, following his meeting with Putin held Wednesday at the Vostochny spaceport where he pledged full support for Russia.

Putin earlier told a Russian media outlet that Kim will fly to Komsomolsk-on-Amur to visit an aircraft plant and travel to Vladivostok to view Russia’s Pacific Fleet after the summit.

But Kim appears to have taken his train to Komsomolsk-on-Amur, some 1,170 kilometers east of the space center.

Kim is expected to arrive in the Russian city late Thursday and stop by an aircraft plant that manufactures Sukhoi fighter jets the following day, according to the sources.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Russian Security Personnel Prepare Vladivostok Train Station for the Arrival of Kim Jong-un

The fact that Kim Jong-un is traveling to Vladivostok to meet with Putin means the arms deal is done and North Korean artillery shells should start being delivered to Russian units in Ukraine soon:

Police and military personnel are spotted at a platform of Vladivostok rail station in the far eastern Russian city on Sept. 11, 2023. (Yonhap)

Police and military personnel are spotted at a platform of Vladivostok rail station in the far eastern Russian city on Sept. 11, 2023. (Yonhap)

Security measures appeared to have been strengthened at the rail station in Russia’s far eastern city of Vladivostok on Monday amid speculation that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could visit Russia this week for talks with President Vladimir Putin.

As of 5:40 p.m., a large number of police personnel were spotted inside Vladivostok station, unlike the previous day. A South Korean government official told Yonhap News Agency earlier in the day that a special train presumed to be carrying Kim appeared to be traveling to Vladivostok.

Soldiers with service dogs, men in black suits, as well as a black car surrounded by police officials entering the platform were also seen at the station, although it was unclear whether the vehicle was related to Kim’s possible visit.

The New York Times reported last week that Kim plans to travel to Vladivostok, possibly by armored train this month, for talks with Putin to discuss the North’s potential supply of its artillery shells and other weaponry for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Picture of the Day: Tractor Inspection

N.K. leader inspects tractor factory
N.K. leader inspects tractor factory
This photo, released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on Aug. 24, 2023, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (R) inspecting the Kumsong Tractor Factory in the North’s western port city of Nampo the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

Kim Jong-un Calls for Increased Production of Missiles

Its August which means provocation time from North Korea due to the annual joint exercise between the U.S. and the ROK:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for a “drastic boost” of the country’s missile production capacity, the North’s state media said Monday, as South Korea and the United States plan to stage joint military drills later this month.

Kim made the remarks during a two-day visit to major factories that produce strategic missiles, rocket launchers and other military weapons on Friday and Saturday, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The visit came less than a week after the North Korean leader conducted a “field guidance” of major munitions factories as South Korea and the United States plan to hold their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise later this month, which Pyongyang has denounced as a rehearsal for an invasion of the North.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Kim Jong-un Lines State Office Building with Large Portraits of Putin

Dictatorship 101 says to put large portraits of yourself everywhere and for Putin he even has the North Koreans putting up his picture now. This is a bit surprising because it makes North Korea look like a vassal state:

Kim Jong Un decorated his walls with huge portraits of Russian President Vladimir Putin during a tour of a state office building, state media images show.

The portraits were visible as the North Korean leader gave a personal tour to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Shoigu was attending a banquet at the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party headquarters in Pyongyang, per the Daily Mail. It comes as the country celebrated the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, which took place from 1950 to 1953.

In the bizarre images, Kim and Shoigu can be seen walking down a corridor while huge portraits of Putin and Kim loom over them from either side.

Business Insider

You can read more at the link.

NIS Claims that Kim Jong-un’s Lifestyle is Causing Him to be in Poor Health

I don’t think you needed to have a spy agency tell you that Kim Jong-un is in poor health when anyone with two eyes can see he is overweight and does not move well:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks to a spy satellite launch committee in footage broadcast by the state-controlled Korean Central Television on May 16. A pack of cigarettes and an ashtray flank him on the desk. [YONHAP]

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks to a spy satellite launch committee in footage broadcast by the state-controlled Korean Central Television on May 16. A pack of cigarettes and an ashtray flank him on the desk. [YONHAP]

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) told a parliamentary committee that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un suffers from multiple health problems tied to his hard drinking and smoking habits, a People Power Party (PPP) lawmaker told reporters Wednesday.  
   
According to Rep. Yoo Sang-bum, who serves as the executive secretary of the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee, the spy agency briefed lawmakers on Kim’s current state of health and said the North Korean leader likely suffers from insomnia and other ”serious sleeping disorders.”  
   
The NIS also told the committee that the leader is “importing large quantities of foreign cigarettes, such as Marlboro and Dunhill, and high-end liquor,” according to the PPP lawmaker. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but something of interest is that the NIS estimates that Kim Jong-un weighs 308 pounds.