Data map: "Goshawk One" (Photo: Yonhap News Agency)
Why is the DPRK Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un's plane called "Goshawk-1"? Yonhap News Agency reported on the 29th that this is related to the fact that the "goshawk" is regarded as the "national bird" of North Korea.
Yonhap News Agency reported that the Dprk Central News Agency introduced it in a report entitled "The Korean National Bird in Historical Records - The Goshawk" on the 28th: "The goshawk is the national bird of the DPRK and embodies the resolute and courageous temperament of the Korean people."
The Central News Agency of The DPRK also quoted historical documents such as the Sejong Records and the History of Goryeo as saying that "Haedong-cheong" (referring to the Korean goshawk) was closely related to the lives of the Korean people a long time ago.
According to the Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture, the "goshawk" is a kind of "eagle" that inhabits Korea and is an uncommon resident bird. Goshawks were once used to hunt pheasants, but as the former declined dramatically, South Korea designated it a "natural monument" in the 1980s.
The goshawk motif appears on North Korean stamps. (Photo: Yonhap News Agency)
Yonhap News Agency reported that the North Korean media "Reunification News" first introduced the goshawk as the national bird of North Korea in January 2009, and since 2013, the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea Central Television and other media have officially appeared in the relevant statements. At the same time, North Korea has designated the goshawk as a "natural monument" and has carried out active conservation and management activities for its habitat.
Yonhap News Agency said the name of Kim Jong-un was first revealed in 2015. In July 2015, KCNA reported that officers and men of the DPRK's aviation and air defense forces held a combat flight technology conference at North Korea's Gema Airport, and that North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un took a special plane, Goshawk No. 1, to the scene for guidance.
Then, in February 2016, when North Korea launched the "Light Star 4", Kim Jong-un took the "Goshawk-1" to the Dongcangli launch site, and in May and June last year, Kim Jong-un also took the "Goshawk-1" to visit China.
In June 2018, Kim Jong-un and his wife Lee Seok-joo visited China on the "Goshawk One". (Photo: KCNA)
According to previous media reports, the "Goshawk-1" was modified by the "Il-62M" built during the Soviet period, and from the performance parameters, the uninterrupted flight distance can reach more than 10,000 kilometers.