The North Korean Foreign Ministry confirmed that Mr. Kim Jong-un departed on September 1, accompanied by a delegation of senior officials, including Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui.
North Korean state news agency KCNA released a photo of Mr. Kim Jong-un smiling inside the train car, sitting next to a wooden table with the North Korean flag behind him.
According to North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun, Mr. Kim Jong-un arrived in Beijing on the morning of September 2.
The green ship with a yellow trim has long been associated with generations of North Korean leaders. Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un's father, is said to have limited air travel and often used trains for tourism. In 2002, Russian media broadcast a picture of this train during Kim Jong-il's visit to Russia.
Documents from that time show that the train was equipped with many amenities such as meeting rooms, reception rooms, bedrooms, satellite phones and flat-screen TVs.
According to the Korean press, the thick armor makes trains move at an average speed of about 60 km/h, but in return, the level of security is strictly guaranteed. Under Kim Jong-il, about 20 special stops were built exclusively for this train.
Mr. Kim Jong-un has also used armored ships many times during his foreign visits. Most recently in 2023 when he visited Russia's Far East to meet President Vladimir Putin. The published image shows the interior with shiny wooden floors and elaborately decorated walkways.
Earlier, during a visit to Beijing in 2018, North Korean media broadcast a scene of Chinese officials getting on a ship to welcome Mr. Kim Jong-un, two groups sitting opposite each other on a row of pink fabric during the talks.
In addition to international tours, the train also often appears in domestic propaganda bulletins. The image of generations of North Korean leaders taking ships to meet the people has become a familiar part of Pyongyang's message to the public.
At the mausoleum preserving the remains of Mr. Kim Nhat Thanh and Mr. Kim Jong-il outside the capital Pyongyang, North Korea also displayed a real-sized train carriage model.
