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N. Korean General flying UA 808 PEK to IAD 17 Jan. 2019

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N. Korean General flying UA 808 PEK to IAD 17 Jan. 2019

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Old Jan 18, 2019, 6:26 am
  #16  
 
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Originally Posted by 764toHI
Also curious who is paying for his seat given sanctions.
Probably a USG "agency."
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Old Jan 18, 2019, 6:58 am
  #17  
 
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Originally Posted by riphamilton
north korean general kim yong-chol currently on UA808 PEK-IAD. 787-9.

i am not on the flight...
How did you find out?
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Old Jan 18, 2019, 7:13 am
  #18  
 
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widely reported in the news...

Originally Posted by narvik
How did you find out?
Read about it yesterday in the Washington Post where there was mention of being on a non-stop UA flight from Beijing to Washington with arrival date so figuring out the flight wasn't difficult. For the earlier inquiry, he's the head of North Korea's intelligence agency coming to Washington to deliver a letter from Chairman Kim.
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Old Jan 18, 2019, 8:28 am
  #19  
 
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Flight had two standbys clear, both also on the upgrade list so possibly non-revs. Neither named KIM/Y.

Went out with two J seats unassigned.

According to Vice he's leaving on China Air CA 818 IAD-PEK on Saturday 1/19 at 3:35pm, but they don't list their source https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/...it-north-korea

Last edited by threeoh; Jan 18, 2019 at 8:33 am Reason: added return info
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Old Jan 18, 2019, 8:41 am
  #20  
 
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Originally Posted by Portolan
Read about it yesterday in the Washington Post where there was mention of being on a non-stop UA flight from Beijing to Washington with arrival date so figuring out the flight wasn't difficult. For the earlier inquiry, he's the head of North Korea's intelligence agency coming to Washington to deliver a letter from Chairman Kim.
Air China flies PEK-IAD, too. Why do you suppose he was on the UA flight?
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Old Jan 18, 2019, 9:56 am
  #21  
 
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Originally Posted by seenitall
Air China flies PEK-IAD, too. Why do you suppose he was on the UA flight?
Who knows? Maybe availability at a late date.
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Old Jan 18, 2019, 10:01 am
  #22  
 
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Originally Posted by Portolan
Who knows? Maybe availability at a late date.
AFAIK, no news source or reported personal observation has identified this guy as having been on a UA flight. If there is any source for this allegation, it should be presented.
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Old Jan 18, 2019, 10:06 am
  #23  
 
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Well it would seem he made it to DC and is at the Hotel DuPont. I was wondering why there was so much press, especially Asian media networks, camped outside when I passed there this morning.
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Old Jan 18, 2019, 10:14 am
  #24  
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Originally Posted by seenitall
Air China flies PEK-IAD, too. Why do you suppose he was on the UA flight?
Aren't they famous for not paying for anything? Maybe we flew them over and needed to use a US carrier due to government restrictions?
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Old Jan 18, 2019, 10:15 am
  #25  
 
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Originally Posted by seenitall
AFAIK, no news source or reported personal observation has identified this guy as having been on a UA flight. If there is any source for this allegation, it should be presented.
It's been published in the Washington Post (opinion pages) and Reuters (news).

The source for both of these and all the others I can find seems to be the South Korean news agency Yonhap: https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN2019011...?section=nk/nk

Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the ruling Workers' Party Central Committee, left for the U.S. capital on United Airlines flight UA808 following a hourslong stopover here. He is accompanied by two North Korean officials: Kim Song-hye, director of the United Front Department's tactical office, and Choe Kang-il, acting director-general for the foreign ministry's North American affairs.

The plane is slated to land at Dulles International Airport at 6:50 p.m. on Thursday (local time).
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Old Jan 18, 2019, 10:17 am
  #26  
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I guess he had a team of people traveling with him for UA to switch to a 789 on this flight vs the usual 788.

About ten years ago on a flight from PEK to SIN on Singapore Airlines, about 10 min before departure, a group of 4 North Korean dressed in official military uniforms came on board and sat in the first row of the two-class business cabin seats.

I was two rows behind. It was a red-eye flight, so not much happening during the flight as far as I could tell. They were the first ones to deplane while the rest of passengers waited. I did not see them at the gate area after I left the plane. I guess they were escorted down the jetway to a waiting car.
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Old Jan 18, 2019, 11:00 am
  #27  
 
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Originally Posted by Say Vandelay
Well it would seem he made it to DC and is at the Hotel DuPont. I was wondering why there was so much press, especially Asian media networks, camped outside when I passed there this morning.
And now in the news there was a meeting in the Oval Office with North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator. Was this the person?

Read the news, and yes it's the same person: Kim Yong Chol.
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Old Jan 18, 2019, 1:00 pm
  #28  
 
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And apparently met with Trump today.
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Old Jan 18, 2019, 1:06 pm
  #29  
 
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Originally Posted by threeoh
Flight had two standbys clear, both also on the upgrade list so possibly non-revs. Neither named KIM/Y.

Went out with two J seats unassigned.
Probably just a FAM (or did the also get furloughed?)

-James
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Old Jan 18, 2019, 1:08 pm
  #30  
 
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Originally Posted by Portolan
Read about it yesterday in the Washington Post where there was mention of being on a non-stop UA flight from Beijing to Washington with arrival date so figuring out the flight wasn't difficult. For the earlier inquiry, he's the head of North Korea's intelligence agency coming to Washington to deliver a letter from Chairman Kim.
Hopefully it's in one of those big envelopes! Side note : why couldn't they just use UPS or DHL? Presumably they have a diplomatic service!

-James
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