ASIA / PACIFIC
May 21, 2018
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 5
Kim breaks with his flight-phobic father, travels by plane
AIR TRAVEL. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un,
top photo, center, arrives at an airport in Dalian, Chi-
na. Unlike his dictator father, who famously shunned
air travel, Kim Jong Un jetted off to the northeastern
Chinese city of Dalian, becoming the first North Ko-
rean ruler to travel abroad in that manner in 32 years.
In the bottom photo, Kim Jong Un, center, is greeted
by Chinese Communist Party members upon arrival at
Beijing station in Beijing on March 26, 2018. On Kim’s
first trip to a foreign country since taking power in
2011, he travelled on a special armored train. Inde-
pendent journalists were not given access to cover the
events depicted in the images distributed by the North
Korean government. The contents of the images are
as provided and cannot be independently verified. The
Korean language watermark on the images as pro-
vided by the source reads “KCNA,” which is the ab-
breviation for the Korean Central News Agency. (Kore-
an Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
By Hyung-Jin Kim
The Associated Press
S
EOUL, South Korea — Unlike his
dictator father, who famously
shunned air travel, North Korean
leader Kim Jong Un jetted off to the
northeastern Chinese city of Dalian this
month, becoming the first North Korean
ruler to fly abroad in 32 years.
Since taking office in late 2011, Kim has
occasionally flown inside North Korea.
The recent foreign trip, albeit not far from
the North Korean border, comes ahead of
his expected summit with President
Donald Trump aimed at ending the North
Korean nuclear problem.
Was Kim trying to test his jet’s flight
capacity because his summit with Trump
would happen in Singapore? Did he simply
want to show that he’s different from his
flight-averse father? Or perhaps he had
urgent matters to discuss with Chinese
President Xi Jinping that precluded the
time-consuming train he took in March to
Beijing to meet Xi.
Some things to know about the Kim
family’s travel habits:
The goshawk
Kim’s official plane is a remodelled
version of the Soviet-made IL-62. North
Korea calls it “Chammae-1,” named after
the goshawk, North Korea’s national bird.
South Korean media say the plane can
fly at a maximum speed of 560 miles per
hour and carry about 200 people. Its maxi-
mum flight range is about 5,720 miles, but
it has reportedly never flown that far.
Some experts say one reason why North
Korea apparently wanted to have a
Kim-Trump summit in Pyongyang, the
North’s capital, is that Kim’s plane might
not be able to fly to faraway places like
Switzerland, Sweden, or Washington.
Kim’s younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, used
“Chammae-2,” the same kind of aircraft as
her brother’s, when she visited South
Korea in February to attend the opening
ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter
Olympics. She became the first member of
North Korea’s ruling Kim family to visit
South Korea since the end of the
1950-1953 Korean War.
Previous air travel
Schooled for several years in Switzer-
land, Kim is believed to have travelled by
air often as a teenager.
After he became North Korea’s leader,
state media said he was aboard
“Chammae-1” when he reviewed air force
planes taking part in combat aeronautics
contests and inspected construction work
in Pyongyang. North Korean media photos
Cambodia makes first arrest on
charges of insulting monarchy
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A Cambodian school
director has become the first person to be arrested on
charges of insulting the monarchy after posting comments
on Facebook critical of the authoritarian government.
The law protecting the monarchy was passed in
February. Critics say it further erodes freedom of speech
and political activities, already under stress from Prime
Minister Hun Sen’s government.
Police said Khieng Navy was arrested at his home and
could face five years in prison if convicted.
He is accused of posting comments online that allegedly
insulted King Norodom Sihamoni by suggesting he was
behind the November court decision to disband the main
opposition party to benefit Cambodia’s enemies. Sihamoni
is a constitutional monarch with a minimal role in public
affairs, while Hun Sen exercises almost absolute control
over politics.
The Kampong Thom provincial court formally charged
Khieng Navy with “insulting of the monarch,” said a
statement released by the investigating judge, Khorn
Kosal. Offenders of the law on lese majeste, or insulting
the monarch, could be punished by one to five years in
prison with a fine of up to $2,500.
Man imprisoned for post on Facebook
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A court in Vietnam has
sentenced a Facebook user to 4 1/2 years in jail for posts
the court said distorted the political situation in the
country and opposed the ruling Communist Party and the
state.
A state-run newspaper said Bui Hieu Vo, 56, was
convicted of conducting anti-state propaganda at the
one-day trial in the People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City.
Tuoi Tre newspaper said authorities found 57 posts on
Vo’s Facebook page that opposed the Communist Party
and instigated people to engage in terrorist activities. He
was arrested in March last year.
The newspaper also reported that police in the northern
province of Thanh Hoa had detained Nguyen Duy Son for
Facebook posts that defamed the country’s leaders.
also showed Kim looking out the windows
of his plane, walking down the stairs from
the plane, and walking with his wife, Ri Sol
Ju, on a red carpet placed on an airstrip.
Other photos showed Kim in the cockpit
of a fighter jet.
Different from his father
Before Kim’s Dalian trip, no North
Korean leader had publicly gone abroad by
air since Kim’s grandfather, North Korea
founder Kim Il Sung, flew to the Soviet
Union in 1986.
Kim Jong Il flew by plane to a conference
in Indonesia with Kim Il Sung, his father,
in 1965. But after that, he reportedly never
flew because of a fear of heights. During
his 1994-2011 rule, Kim Jong Il made
about a dozen known overseas trips,
mostly to China, and conducted countless
inspections of military posts, factories, and
other places — all by train.
Analysts say Kim Jong Un’s air travel
may be aimed at showing he’s a confident,
normal leader who meets international
standards.
South Korean media say Kim Jong Il
had several luxurious trains equipped
with reception halls, conference rooms,
and high-tech communication facilities. To
guard against possible attacks, his train
reportedly travelled with two other trains,
with one running ahead of his to check the
safety of the rail line while another carried
security agents and followed behind.
According to state media, Kim Jong Il died
of a heart attack during a train trip.
When Kim Jong Un visited Beijing,
which is much farther than Dalian, in
March for talks with Xi in his first overseas
trip since his inauguration, he took a deep
green special train reminiscent of his
father’s. In April, he took a black Mercedes
limousine to return home after a meeting
with South Korean President Moon Jae-in
at a village along the Koreas’ border.