North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (AP)
Kim Jong Un traveled to China this week with a private toilet on his armored train, a precaution meant to protect his DNA and health details, according to Japanese and South Korean intelligence.The custom lavatory was part of his green armored train, which took him to Beijing on Tuesday for China’s largest-ever military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Kim has used the same method on previous trips, including the 2018 North-South summit, the 2019 Hanoi meeting with the United States, and the 2022 Singapore summit.“The physical condition of the supreme leader has a major impact on the North Korean regime,” a South Korean intelligence official familiar with North Korean affairs told Nikkei Asia, as cited by The New York Post.“North Korea makes a particular effort to seal off anything related to that, such as hair and excrement.”Precautions extended beyond the toilet. During Kim’s recent sit-down with Russian President Vladimir Putin, his aides were seen meticulously cleaning the meeting space. Kremlin reporter Alexander Yunashev shared video of staff removing items and wiping down surfaces after the two-and-a-half-hour talks.Yunashev noted that Kim’s staffers “took away the glass from which he drank, wiped the upholstery of the chair and those parts of the furniture that the Korean leader touched.”
