- Train derailed between Dongrim and Yeomju
- Freight carrying birthday gifts for Kim Jong-eun
- Possible action of opponents of Kim Jong-eun's succession

A source in the defense department in North Pyongan province reported on the 23rd that, "The defense department was notified of an incident in which a freight train which left Sinuiju on the 11th was derailed somewhere between Yoemju and Dongrim."

Eight of the more than forty carriages of the train which was packed with gifts for the successor Kim Jong-eun's birthday on January 8th were derailed, said the source. For this reason the authorities have launched a full investigation into whether the cause of the incident could be related to forces opposed to the succession.

The source reported that "North Korean rail tracks and sleepers are so old that it's possible the sleepers were rotting or that nails securing the tracks were dislodged. But in this case the extent of the damage to the tracks and the incident's timing suggest that the damage was deliberate. The possibility that it was undertaken by someone opposed to the succession is high."

Pyongyang - Sinuiju passenger trains operate once a day. But the freight train involved in the incident runs according to freight demands and the time is not fixed. It can run multiple times a day or once every few days.

That someone on the inside knew about the trains whereabouts and freight contents and tried to sabotage it is being seen as a real possibility, given that of all the freight trains it was the one carrying Kim Jong-eun's birthday gifts that was upended.

"I'm not sure exactly," said the source when asked what the train's likely contents were, "but probably a large amount of luxury goods like watches and TVs."