Kim Jong Un received a Russian-made limousine as a personal gift from President Vladimir Putin in a sign of their close ties, North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said on Tuesday.
Kim's sister and another North Korean official accepted the car on his behalf and conveyed his thanks, according to the KCNA, which said the gift was "a clear demonstration of the special relations of friendship" between the two sides.
Kim and Putin have increased their cooperation in recent months since the North Korean leader's visit last September to Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia's main spaceport in the country's Far East.
The United States and its allies said Russian forces fighting in Ukraine have fired missiles supplied by North Korea—a claim denied by both—while South Korean intelligence said Moscow likely had a hand in Pyongyang's first successful spy satellite launch last November.
The KCNA did not specify the make and model of Kim's new personal vehicle, but Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has since confirmed it to be an Aurus Senat, the same Russian-made luxury limo Putin uses as his presidential car.
"When the leader of the [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] was at Vostochny Cosmodrome, he looked at this car. Putin showed it to him personally. And like many people, Kim liked this car," Russia's state-owned Tass news agency quoted Peskov as saying.
Kim, who was pictured in the back seat of the Aurus during his Russia visit, becomes the first head of state to receive one as a gift, Tass said, in a likely violation of a 2017 U.N. resolution—backed by Moscow—that banned the transfer to North Korea of all transportation vehicles.
North Korea and Russia share a 10-mile land border, but most shipments, including alleged weapons transfers, go by sea.
"North Korea is our neighbor, our close neighbor. We intend to and will develop our relations with all neighbors, including North Korea," Peskov said.
Luxury-loving Kim, 40, who has recently remarked on economic hardships in his reclusive regime, is known top have expensive taste—luxury sedans, private jets, and exotic whiskies. He described Putin's gift as the "best present," according to the KCNA.
In December, Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper said Japanese authorities thwarted an attempt to smuggle a $70,000 Lexus into North Korea via Bangladesh.
While in Russia last year, Kim was driven around in his personal Maybach limo. He also used a Maybach during his two meetings in 2018 and 2019 with then-President Donald Trump.
Kim, who was educated in Switzerland, recently traveled to North Korea's east coast to oversee a missile test. Satellite imagery showed his luxury mega-yacht anchored nearby, according to the North Korea-focused website NK Pro.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are running high amid Kim's repeated weapons tests and North Korea's abandonment of reconciliation efforts with the South.
Weapons and military equipment from Russia as well as China are in use in North Korea. Long-time observers fear Kim could launch at least a limited war this year.
North Korea's embassy in Beijing could not be reached for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
John Feng is Newsweek's contributing editor for Asia based in Taichung, Taiwan. His focus is on East Asian politics. He ... Read more
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