Why Kim Jong-un travels with his own toilet to battle biometric espionage

By David D. Lee

When North Korean leader Kim Jong-un rose from his chair after a two-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin in Beijing last week, aides swooped in almost instantly, polishing the table and scrubbing the seat he had just occupied.

The bizarre spectacle was not just political theatre or a quirk of the supreme leader’s personality, analysts say; it was an act of counter-intelligence.

Kim travelled to Beijing for China’s Victory Day parade, the first occasion the North Korean leader has been seen in public alongside Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. But while the cameras captured a trilateral show of strength, they also recorded a smaller drama: Kim’s staff carefully wiping down a chair and coffee table he had just used.

Their choreography appeared to confirm long-circulating accounts of Pyongyang’s extraordinary biometric security measures.

Days earlier, Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported that Kim had brought his own toilet aboard his armoured train to prevent his bodily waste from falling into foreign hands – a precaution he has previously deployed at summits with US and South Korean leaders.

David D. Lee attended the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. He has covered social issues, popular culture and the political arena as a reporter in the US, Israel and South Korea. David currently works as a freelance reporter in Seoul, where he enjoys runs at the Han River and frequently goes searching for trendy cafes in the alleyways of the city.