Kim's decision to take the train across China likely marks a major attempt at showmanship designed to bring back memories of North Korean 'eternal president' Kim Il Sung's many travels by railroad.
For that trip, Kim traveled aboard an Air China Boeing 747, meaning the first images from that history-making arrival showed him disembarking from an American-made plane emblazoned with a Chinese flag.
A mock-up of a car from the train is on permanent display at the mausoleum where Kim Il Sung and his son, late leader Kim Jong Il, lie in state, along with maps that light up to show the routes he took on his travels.Inside the car is a desk used by the leaders, along with chairs and a sofa. Guides explain that the carriage was used as a mobile office — proof, they insist, the leaders worked tirelessly for the people.
"This is legacy politics," said Christopher Green, a North Korea expert with the International Crisis Group."North Korea will want to play up Kim’s succession to the role of his grandfather, who successfully built up North Korea's international legitimacy after the establishment of the state." During his father's rule, trips abroad were often not reported for days after they were over, if at all.
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