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Vladivostok railway station on Sept. 11, when reports came out that a train boarded by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had departed en route to Russia. (Yonhap)

With news of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s departure for Russia via private train on Monday afternoon, all eyes have turned to the locomotive itself, dubbed the “Taeyang,” meaning “sun.”

With the exception of founder Kim Il-sung’s visit to Bandung, Indonesia, in 1965 by plane, North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il always traveled by train when going abroad.

Kim Jong-un has, apart from his June 2018 summit with Trump in Singapore and May 2018 summit with Xi in Dalian, China, also journeyed by train when traveling beyond North Korea’s borders.

One of the main reasons North Korean leaders choose to travel by train as opposed to flying is that, once in the air, planes are vulnerable on all sides.

When on a voyage abroad, a lead locomotive runs seven minutes ahead of Kim’s private train to clear the track of obstacles and hazards. The floor of Kim’s compartment on the train is said to be lined with bulletproof metal plates.

Russia is keeping a sharp eye on the Trans-Siberian Railway line that Kim’s train is chugging along, positioning dozens of snipers at all stations and surrounding facilities where the train will stop.

The train consists of eight to nine carriages when traveling domestically, but is lengthened to 12 to 20 cars when visiting foreign countries. Each carriage is divided into five single-person bedrooms for comfortable travel.

The cars are furnished with satellite communication equipment and computers tapped into telecommunication networks. The North Korean leader’s train is also equipped with a banquet room, a conference room, and a garage for automobiles.

Konstantin Pulikovsky, the Kremlin’s former envoy in the Far East, once reported that Kim Jong-il explained his preference for traveling by train during a 24-day visit to Russia in July and August of 2001 which involved traveling between Pyongyang and Moscow.

“I must follow the path that my father, Kim Il-sung, took when choosing to step on Russian soil,” Kim Jong-il reportedly said at the time. “I must follow in his footsteps as his heir.”

By Kwon Hyuk-chul, staff reporter

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