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Leave No Poop Behind: Kim Jong-un's Plane Brings Portable Toilet to Singapore

© REUTERS / KCNANorth Korean Leader Kim Jong Un looks on during the test-fire of inter-continental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang, July, 4 2017.
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un looks on during the test-fire of inter-continental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang, July, 4 2017. - Sputnik International
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The leader of North Korea has arrived to Singapore in what has been a meticulously coordinated scheme shrouded in mystery.

Instead of flying the Pyongyang-Shanghai-Singapore route that takes around six-and-a-half hours but passes over sea, Kim Jong-un flew via Beijing, which took around 10 hours.

An aviation source in China said that "It probably cost a lot of money as well as representing a huge political burden to loan Kim the aircraft,” the publication Chosun Ilbo reported.

However, it was done to better protect the leader as routes over the sea are more difficult to safeguard. To further ensure the secrecy of the leader’s exact route, three planes took off from North Korea at about one hour’s interval: an Ilyushin IL-76, an Air China Boeing 747 and an Ilyushin IL-62.

FILE - In this May 11, 2018, file photo, a news vendor counts her money near a stack of newspapers with a photo of U.S. President Donald Trump, right, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un on its front page in Singapore. - Sputnik International
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According to FlightRadar24, a website that tracks the flights of various aircraft, thousands of people followed the progress of Kim Jong-un’s plane.

One diplomatic source in Singapore said that "Tension was very high in North Korea, hence the secrecy." 

First to arrive in Singapore was the IL-76 transport plane carrying food and other belongings of the DPRK’s leader, as well as his bullet-proof limousine and a portable toilet.

“Keeping Kim’s stool out of others’ reach also prevents details about his health status from leaking to the public,” Lee Yun-keol, a North Korean defector who was previously a North Korean guard command, told the Washington Post.

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He went on to say that rather than using a public restroom, the leader has a personal toilet that follows him around when he travels. “The leader’s excretions contain information about his health status so they can’t be left behind,” Yun-keol said.

On Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met with Kim following the latter’s arrival in the country for the upcoming talks with Trump, scheduled for Tuesday.

The US-North Korean summit will mark the first-ever meeting of sitting leaders of the two countries. The highly-anticipated talks had been put at risk when, on May 24, Trump announced he was canceling the meeting with Kim due to Pyongyang's hostile rhetoric.

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