The model of the car that Putin gave to the North Korean leader is unknown. Photo: KCNA
Russian President Vladimir Putin North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been presented with a Russian-made car, Pyongyang state media reported Tuesday, as the two countries strengthen ties in areas such as tourism and defense.
Kim “gifted a car made in Russia for the personal use of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, the president of the Russian Federation,” Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency reported.
Kim's influential sister Yo Jong said the “gift serves as a clear demonstration of ” Special personal relations between the top leaders of the two countries, KCNA added.
The report does not indicate the model of the car.
Since Kim visited Putin last year, Pyongyang has grown even closer to Moscow, with a group of Russian tourists arriving earlier this month for a four-day trip – the first known foreign tourist group since pandemic-related border closures in 2020.< /p>
Since the September Kim-Putin summit in the Russian Far East, the United States and South Korea have repeatedly said that North Korea supplied weapons to Moscow for use in the war with Ukraine in exchange for Russian assistance in Kim's satellite programs. .
Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un during a meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in September last year Photo: SPUTNIK
The Russian leader, both sides said that they are now going to pay a return visit to Pyongyang.
Kim is known for his love of luxury cars. He has been spotted driving luxury vehicles, including Lexus SUVs and Mercedes-Benz S-Class models.
A 2021 UN report suggests an attempt to supply more than $1 million worth of luxury vehicles, including such models , presumably. from the United Arab Emirates to Ningbo, China, for onward delivery to the North.
Any import of the vehicles would violate successive rounds of UN sanctions on Pyongyang over Kim's banned weapons programs.
During Kim's visit to Russia last year, Putin invited him to climb into the back seat of his Aurus Senat presidential limousine.
Kim personally arrived at the site in his Maybach limousine, which was transported on the special train he was traveling on . from the north.
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