Posted on : Apr.25,2019 15:35 KST
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is greeted by Russian officials upon arriving at Vladivostok railway station on Apr. 24. (Reuters/Yonhap News)
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Holds impromptu interview with international press, says many more visits to Russia to come
At 6 pm on Apr. 24, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived in Vladivostok, Russia, on his personal train. Kim indulged in some unconventional behavior on the occasion, agreeing with a smile to an impromptu interview with international reporters.
After his train arrived at Khasan, a town near the North Korea-Russia border, Kim was interviewed by the TV station Russia 24. “As I receive the warm welcome of the Russian people, I believe that this will be a useful and successful visit and that my meeting with your president will be an opportunity to discuss many issues, exchange many opinions and have a conversation that will be very useful for maintaining stability in the region and jointly managing affairs,” Kim said.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un gives an interview with television network Russia 24 upon arriving at Khasan railway station on Apr. 24. (Yonhap News)
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Reporters from South Korea and countries around the world responsible for covering Kim’s first summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Apr. 25 had congregated at the plaza by Vladivostok Station, where Kim arrived the day before the summit. Tourists and locals had also gathered around the station, curious expressions on their faces and smartphones in their hands, primed for photographs. North Korean reporters were also present in the massive crowd, their flashbulbs popping.
Hanging from the lines of streetlamps, the flags of North Korea and Russia fluttered in the breeze. A placard had been erected in the area of the platform, where Kim was to disembark, bearing the following message in Korean: “Welcome to Vladivostok, Comrade Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea!”
Around 4 pm, when Kim’s train was about to arrive, the mood around the station suddenly turned somber. The Mercedes-Benz reserved for Kim and vans and other vehicles for his security detail lined up near the station. Jets soared overhead, while the people milling about were pushed back by Russian police to a distance of about 100m away from the station.
Around 6 pm, with the weather turning chilly, Kim stepped down onto platform four, in a black coat and a fedora. Alexander Kozlov, the Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East, and his attendants were present to greet Kim, and they all walked together out of the train station and for about 100m to the place where an honor guard representing the Russian army, air force, and navy had lined up. On a carpet laid out in the middle of the road in front of Vladivostok railway station, Kim and the others reviewed the honor guard.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meets with Russian Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East Alexander Kozlov, Primorsky Krai (Territory) Governor Oleg Kozhemyako, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov in Khasan, Russia, on Apr. 24. (Yonhap News)
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After the welcome ceremony, Kim was whisked away in a private armored Mercedes-Maybach S 600 Pullman Guard to Far Eastern Federal University, on Russky Island, to the south of downtown Vladivostok. Kim unpacked his things in a presidential suite in a hotel inside the campus.
According to videos and news reports posted on the website of the government of the Russian federal subject of Primorsky Krai, Kim was smiling when he disembarked from his train at Khasan, receiving a bouquet of flowers, and the bread and salt that symbolize welcome in Russia, before entering the station building. Kozlov greeted the North Korean leader by expressing his hope that Kim would have pleasant memories of his visit. “This won’t be my last visit to Russia,” Kim said in response. “This is only my first step.”
By Noh Ji-won and Park Min-hee, staff reporters
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