December 07, 2023
Evergreen

Like father, like son: a train journey across Siberia with Kim Jong Il

Former Russian diplomat Georgy Toloraya remembers the late leader's long-distance rail travel

Kim Jong Il, unlike his son, suffered from aerophobia and flew only in a rare occasions and for short trips, preferring trains (he even died in one).

He may have picked up the habit from his father, Kim Il Sung, who regarding traveling by train as a privilege reserved for the highest-echelon leaders of communist countries.