Trump-Kim summit in Singapore presents logistical challenges for North Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's trip to Singapore for talks with U.S. President DonaldTrump poses logistical challenges that are likely to includeusing Soviet-era aircraft to carry him and his limousine, aswell as dozens of security and other support staff.

The choice of Singapore as the site of the first-evermeeting of a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leaderwas as much because it was within reasonable flight time anddistance from Pyongyang as because of the island state'spolitical neutrality, a South Korean presidential official toldreporters.

Since becoming North Korea's leader in 2011, Kim has onlytaken one known overseas trip by air and that was earlier thisweek to Dalian in China to hold talks with Chinese President XiJinping. He flew in his personal Ilyushin-62M jet accompanied bya cargo plane that people with knowledge of North Korean affairssay is believed to have carried his limousine.

"It looks very much like the trip to Dalian was a dry run,"said Andray Abrahamian, a research fellow at Pacific Forum CSISand formerly with Choson Exchange, a Singapore-based group thattrains North Koreans in business skills.

At 4,700 kilometresfrom Pyongyang's Sunan airport, Singapore iseasily in the range of the Il-62M aircraft. The Soviet-eranarrow-body jet with four engines was first introduced in the1970s and has a maximum range of 10,000 kilometres.

Refuelling stop

But the Ilyushin-76 cargo plane cannot fly more than 3,000kilometreswithout refuelling if carrying a full load. It will thereforehave to stop off at a friendly location like Vietnam's capitalon the way to Singapore or fly with a reduced load.

The Il-76, originally designed for moving heavy machinery toremote parts of the Soviet Union, is big enough to fit a schoolbus or two shipping containers inside it, according to passengerand cargo flight operator Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions.

But the cargo plane has had some safety issues. In thelatest incident last month, a crash killed 257 people on boardafter takeoff from an Algiers air base.Unlike his father Kim Jong-il, who died in 2011 and whotravelled by armoured train on his rare trips abroad because hefeared being shot down, according to a North Korean defectorfamiliar with his security details, the younger leader is notknown to be averse to flying.

But air travel of this distance does pose a significantlygreater challenge in transporting communication and securityequipment and personnel needed to back up a summit meeting.

Suite fit for a leader

Lee Yun-keol, a defector who had worked for the North'sgovernment and now heads the North Korea Strategic InformationService Center in Seoul, said the trip will involve dozens ofsecurity personnel and equipment including possibly a personaltoilet for the leader.

It will also mean burning a large quantity of jet fuel, arefined oil product sharply limited by UNsanctions targetingNorth Korea's imports. Kim's two planes will need around 50 tonnesof jet fuel per aircraft for the flight fromPyongyang to Singapore.

China, the main source of fuel for the North, exported just three tonnesof jet fuel in March and made no official exports the twoprevious months, according to Chinese customs data.

But the North's planes can pick up extra fuel when they flyto China and Russia for commercial operations, and internationalsecurity experts believe the North may have been stockpiling thefuel which it has also used for its missile program.

U.S. reportedly preferred Geneva

"The United States had preferred Geneva," the South Koreanpresidential official told reporters, requesting anonymity todiscuss the arrangements for the summit meeting.

"But Singapore was selected as it was the most realisticallyviable destination Kim Jong-un could probably travel whenconsidering the travel time and flight distance."

The two sides initially considered meeting in the Panmunjomtruce village straddling the Korean military border, the sceneof the third inter-Korea summit attended by Kim and South KoreanPresident Moon Jae-in last month, the official said. Theofficial said the South did not know the reason why Panmunjomwas dropped.

There was no confirmation on the specific location for themeeting between Kim and Trump although there are a number ofsites in Singapore that can guarantee security protection,including hotels that have experience hosting high-securityevents, Singapore media and a Singapore government officialsaid.

Singapore 'honoured' to host

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the countrywas "honoured to host it, and would do our best to facilitate asmooth and successful meeting," in a telephone call with Trumpon Friday.

Trump said the summit would contribute to resolving the longoutstanding issue of securing peace and stability on the Koreanpeninsula, Singapore's foreign ministry said.

The meeting is scheduled for one day on June 12, but ifeither or both of the leaders decide to stay overnight, there isonly one hotel room in the city that meets "securityprotocol" for the U.S. president, according to a source withknowledge of previous U.S. presidential visits.

That is the 348-square-metreShangri-la Suite in the ValleyWing of the hotel of the same name, at a current rate of$7,500 USa night for June 12.