Russia’s Putin gifts North Korea’s Kim Jong-un a car

Seoul, Feb 20 (EFE).- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has received a Russian-made car from Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, another sign of the deepening ties between Pyongyang and Moscow, state media reported Tuesday.

“Kim Jong Un, president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), was presented with a car made in Russia for his personal use by Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, president of the Russian Federation,” North Korean state-news agency KCNA said.

The gift was delivered on Feb. 18 to Pak Jong-chon, secretary of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), and Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the WPK Central Committee, according to the agency.

The North Korean leader’s sister “Kim Yo Jong courteously conveyed Kim Jong Un’s thanks to Putin to the Russian side, saying that the gift serves as a clear demonstration of the special relations of friendship between the top leaders of the DPRK and Russia and as the best present,” KCNA added.

The agency did not release photos or more details about the model of the car gifted to Kim.

A UN Security Council resolution prohibits the supply of luxury items to North Korea.

During a summit Kim and Putin held in September in Russia’s Amur region, the Russian leader showed Kim his Aurus Senat presidential limousine.

That meeting served to cement the current rapprochement between the two countries and to seal cooperation and exchange agreements in the military sphere under which Pyongyang has given Moscow ballistic missiles and thousands of artillery rounds that the Russian army has used to attack Ukraine.

It is also believed that North Korea received help from Russia to successfully launch its first spy satellite into orbit at the end of November.

After the failure of denuclearization negotiations with Washington in 2019, Pyongyang has refused to resume dialogue and has approved a weapons modernization plan that has resulted in countless missile tests, in addition to seeking closer ties with Beijing and especially Moscow. EFE

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