Tuesday, February 20, 2024 – Russian President, Vladimir Putin has gifted a car to his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un, North Korean state media said Tuesday, February 20.
The Russian-made car for Kim’s personal use was delivered
Sunday by a Russian delegation, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)
reported.
Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong thanked Putin on her brother’s
behalf and said, “the gift serves as a clear demonstration of the special
personal relations between the top leaders of the (North Korea) and Russia,”
according to KCNA.
The US government is increasingly concerned about the
long-term implications of a new level of strategic partnership between North
Korea and Russia, according to reports.
Russia has repeatedly used North Korean-supplied short-range
ballistic missiles at Ukrainian targets in recent weeks.
In January, high-ranking North Korean and Russian diplomats
met in Moscow in advance of what North Korean state media says is a forthcoming
visit to Pyongyang by Putin — his first in more than 20 years. Kim visited
Russia for a summit with Putin in September, where he endorsed Russia's war on
Ukraine and said, “I will always be standing with Russia.”
Putin’s gift violates United Nations sanctions imposed on
North Korea for its nuclear weapons program, though the ban on luxury goods
sales to the country has not prevented Kim from appearing in a range of
high-end vehicles over the years.
The North Korean leader is often seen in a Mercedes-Maybach
Pullman Guard armored limousine, worth upwards of $1 million.
In 2018, he arrived at a meeting with US officials in a
black Rolls-Royce. Earlier that year, two armored Mercedes-Maybach S600 Guard
vehicles were shipped from the Netherlands to North Korea, likely for Kim’s
use, according to the Washington-based Center for Advanced Defense Studies.
During Kim’s visit to Russia last September, Putin showed
the North Korean leader his limousine, made by Russian luxury automaker Aurus.
Former US President Donald Trump also gave Kim a viewing of
the presidential Cadillac limousine nicknamed “the Beast” during their talks in
Singapore in 2018.
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