Russian limousine

Putin presents Kim Jong-un with a new luxury limousine

North Korea's dictator Kim Jong Un and Kremlin despot Vladimir Putin maintain good relations.(Bild: AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has presented North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with a luxury limousine, apparently as a sign of their close ties. According to the Russian news agency RIA, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the car was made by the Russian state car manufacturer Aurus.

The official North Korean news agency KCNA reported on Tuesday that the car was for Kim's "personal use" and had been handed over by Russia to his closest associates on February 18. Kim's influential sister Kim Yo Jong thanked the Russian side, saying that the gift was clear proof of the special personal relationship between the two leaders. South Korea criticized the gift as a possible violation of UN sanctions, which prohibit the delivery of luxury cars to North Korea, among other things.

A model of the Russian car brand Aurus(Bild: AFP)

North Korea to supply Russia with weapons
Russia has stepped up its cooperation with the isolated and internationally isolated North Korea in the course of the war in Ukraine. The West suspects that North Korea is supplying Russia with artillery ammunition and missiles for use in Ukraine. Russia has neither denied nor confirmed this. North Korea denies the accusation of arms deliveries to Russia, which would also constitute a violation of UN sanctions.

North Korea's dictator loves luxury cars
Kim met Putin in September during a state visit to Russia, during which both sides agreed to work more closely together. During a visit to the Vostochny Cosmodrome space center in the Russian Far East, Putin invited Kim to get into his state car, the Aurus Senat. Kim himself drove to the space center in a Maybach limousine that he had taken on a special train from Pyongyang.

Kim is considered a car enthusiast and owns a large collection of foreign luxury vehicles, which were probably smuggled in. He has already been seen in Mercedes limousines, a Rolls-Royce Phantom and a Lexus SUV, among others, all luxury goods whose delivery to North Korea is prohibited by UN Security Council resolutions against the Asian state's nuclear and missile programs.