North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has received a Russian-made car from Russian President Vladimir Putin, an episode showcasing the close ties shared between the two nations, media reports said.
The gift serves as a “clear demonstration of the special personal relations between the two leaders and as the best one”, said North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as quoted by Yonhap news agency.
Russia conveyed the vehicle on Sunday to Pak Jong-chon, a secretary of the ruling Worker’s Party of Korea, and Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the North Korean leader. She delivered Kim Jong-un’s thanks to Putin to the Russian side, the report said.
However, the news agency did not share photos or reports detailing the car.
Putin showed his presidential Aurus Senat limousine to Kim in September last year, when the North’s leader visited Russia’s Vostochny spaceport for the summit, and offered him the opportunity to take a seat in the Russian-made luxury vehicle, Yonhap news agency reported.
It is still not clear whether the vehicle in question is an Aurus Senat limousine.
According to reports, Putin’s gift potentially violates the United Nations sanctions imposed on North Korea for its nuclear weapons program.
US concerned
US intelligence officials are increasingly concerned about the long-term implications of what appears to be a new level of strategic partnership between North Korea and Russia, multiple officials familiar with the latest intelligence have told CNN.
Russia reportedly repeatedly fired North Korean-supplied short-range ballistic missiles at Ukrainian targets in recent weeks.
Kim-Putin meeting in 2023
Kim Jong Un visited Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin last year.
Before 2023, the last meeting between the two leaders took place in 2019 when Kim had visited Russia.
According to reports, Kim and Putin inspected the launch facility of the Soyuz-2 space rocket complex at Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur Region.
