Rodong Sinmun reports Kim’s flight to Singapore in a Chinese jet

Rodong Sinmun reports Kim’s flight to Singapore in a Chinese jet. June. 12, 2018 07:42. by Won-Jae Jang peacechaos@donga.com.
North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun, which had been keeping quiet about the North Korea-U.S. summit, reported Monday the arrival of its leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore in a two-page color spread with 16 color pictures. North Korea’s main Communist newspaper went against its practice of not reporting on the leader’s overseas travels in real time due to security reasons.

On the front page, the newspaper dealt with Kim’s departure for Singapore under the title, “Supreme leader Kim Jong Un leaves Pyongyang for a historic meeting with the U.S. president.” In the article, it said, “(Chairman Kim Jong Un) left Pyongyang on Sunday morning using a Chinese private jet. The meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump will be held on Tuesday morning in Singapore.” The newspaper also added a picture of Kim Jong Un in front of the jet, waving his hand with confidence.

The picture clearly showed the logo “Air China” and the Chinese flag marked on the exterior of the airplane. This means the newspaper is frankly telling the North Korean people that its leader used the airplane borrowed from China. The newspaper also revealed the list of Kim’s entourage, including first deputy director of the Workers' Party of Korea Kim Yo Jong.

The Rodong Sinmun also posted the picture of key officials seeing their leader off at the airport, such as President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea Kim Yong Nam, Vice Chairman of the Workers’ Party Choe Ryong Hae, Premier of North Korea Pak Pong Ju, and Director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army Kim Su Gil. This is to show confidence that even without the presence of its leader and his sister, the country has no problem of maintaining its system.