It makes a statement
The pageantry of train travel has played a role in Kim Jong Un’s affection for it, former South Korean intelligence official Nam Sung-wook told Reuters in 2019.
It helped him in “putting on a big show” and projecting the image of himself that he wanted to project.
Lee shared the same view.
“We know that the Kim royalty have always led a lavish, extravagant life,” he said.
“And I guess Kim Jong Un feels that he comes across as more (of) a statesman, taking his time while travelling overseas, if he travels by train like his father.”
It could be seen as a “safer” alternative to flying
According to a 2010 Reuters report citing one of his former bodyguards, Kim Jong Il had a fear of being shot down while flying and never travelled by plane.
He travelled abroad exclusively by train and would use a car or a ship to tour North Korea.
Lee believes that Kim Jong Il’s view of air travel persists in the present day.
“We think that Kim Jong Il’s penchant for taking the train was perhaps out of fear of flying and being shot down, which, of course, resonates today,” he said.
Kim Jong Un has, however, not shown a total aversion to air travel, flying to China and Singapore in 2018.
His trip to the Chinese city of Dalian that year marked the first time that a North Korean leader had publicly travelled by air since 1986, according to the Asahi Shimbun.
Source: CNA
