INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Kim Jong Un has taken only one known overseas trip by air since becoming leader in 2011
(File)Singapore: A cargo plane which accompanied North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on his recent visit to China
has departed Pyongyang and was likely headed for Singapore on Sunday, ahead of Kim's summit with US President Donald Trump.Kim is due to
meet Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in the city-state later on Sunday, Singapore's ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement
Kim will fly into Changi airport on Sunday, a source told Reuters earlier this week.Trump will meet with Lee on Monday
He is scheduled to arrive at Singapore's Paya Lebar Airbase at 8:35 pm on Sunday and go to the Shangri-La Hotel, according to the White
House.His delegation onboard Air Force One includes Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton, White House
Chief of Staff John Kelly and White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders.Kim has taken only one known overseas trip by air since becoming
leader in 2011 and the Ilyushin-76 cargo plane accompanied his personal Ilyushin-62M jet to Dalian in China in May.An Il-76 departed
Pyongyang early on Sunday and stopped in Guangzhou in southern China before being airborne again likely headed for Singapore, flight
tracking services showed.Refrigerator trucks will be waiting at Changi Airport on Sunday to receive the cargo flight, Singapore's Straits
Times newspaper reported, saying the plane is believed to be carrying food items as well as several luxury cars to escort the North Korean
leader.The Il-76 cannot fly more than 3,000 km without refuelling if carrying a full load
It was expected to stop off at a friendly location on the way to Singapore, which is 4,700 km from Pyongyang's Sunan airport, or fly with a
reduced load.The Il-76, originally designed for moving heavy machinery to remote parts of the Soviet Union, is big enough to fit a school
bus or two shipping containers inside it, according to passenger and cargo flight operator Antarctic Logistics Expeditions.© Thomson
Reuters 2018(This story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
