Kim Jong Un, the Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, is expected to depart for Beijing on a train on the 1st of next month to attend the ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Anti-Japanese War.
According to multiple government sources on the 31st, there is a high possibility that the Chairperson will take a special train departing from Pyongyang on the 1st and heading to Beijing. The journey from Pyongyang to Beijing takes approximately 20 to 24 hours by train, meaning he would need to depart on the 1st to arrive by the day before the Victory Day event on the 2nd.
The fact that he has traveled by train for 2 of his 4 visits to China increases the likelihood of train travel. The Chairperson used a train during his first visit to China in March 2018 and his fourth visit in January 2019. In May and June 2018, he used the special aircraft 'Chammae 1', but there are analyses suggesting that the Chairperson is reluctant to use 'Chammae 1' due to its age.
The restriction on foreign bookings at a hotel in Dandong, Liaoning Province, near the railway route also supports the observation that the Chairperson will travel by train. This hotel did not accept foreign bookings during the Chairperson's previous visits to China.
The suspension of train services from Dandong, departing in the afternoon and arriving in Beijing the next morning, on the 1st and 2nd is also likely related to the Chairperson's visit to China. Observations suggest that his special train could cross the border into Beijing on the night of the 1st.
The Chairperson is likely to stay at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, the official guesthouse of the Chinese government, in Beijing. He has stayed at Diaoyutai during all three of his previous visits to Beijing.
The Chairperson is expected to ascend the tower in Tiananmen Square alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Chinese Victory Day parade on the 3rd.