Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took turns to drive each other around in a Russian-built Aurus limousine on Wednesday after the Kremlin said Putin had gifted one of the luxury vehicles to Kim.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un took turns to drive each other around in a Russian-built Aurus limousine after the Kremlin said Putin had gifted one of the luxury vehicles to Kim.
During Putin's pompous first visit to Pyongyang in over a quarter of a century, the two leaders took advantage of a well orchestrated public relations opportunity held under heavy security to demonstrate how close their working relationship had grown.
🇷🇺 🇰🇵 President Vladimir Putin driving North Korea's Kim Jong Un in a brand new Aurus Russian luxury car. pic.twitter.com/N4ceb2ZWvV
— BRICS News (@BRICSinfo)
Their jaunt took place after the two leaders had signed a deal that included a mutual defence pledge, one of Russia's most significant moves in Asia for years that Kim said amounted to an "alliance".
Video released by Russian state TV showed Putin jumping behind the wheel of the black armoured Aurus, which is his official presidential car back in Russia, with Kim getting in the passenger seat.
Putin and Kim are then shown walking side by side and chatting on a path in a wooded area with two men, presumably translators, walking behind them. Kim, who is believed to be a keen automobile enthusiast, is then shown driving Putin back.
The Aurus Senat, retro-styled after the Soviet-era ZIL limousine, is the official Russian presidential car and Putin rode in one to his most recent Kremlin inauguration ceremony in May.
Kim has a large collection of luxury foreign vehicles which have probably been smuggled in, as U.N. Security Council resolutions ban the export of luxury goods to North Korea. He has been spotted in a Maybach limousine, several Mercedes, a Rolls-Royce Phantom and a Lexus sports utility vehicle.