Kim Jong Un observed getting off Benz SUV worth 260 million won

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was spotted using yet another Mercedes-Benz vehicle – the brand's SUV model on which the United Nations Security Council put an export ban. In spite of North Korea sanctions, Kim has shown his affection for the German luxury car brand by disclosing at least three models in official settings for the past month. Reportedly, the volume of luxury items smuggled by the regime through China and Russia made a significant rise last year. South Korean intelligence authorities assume that the regime smuggled luxury items worth a total of several millions dollars from Russia as of last year alone.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Monday aired a documentary film depicting Kim getting off a Mercedes-Benz SUV with the symbol of the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea engraved on the back seat door. The car model is presumed to be the Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600, the carmaker's high-end sub-brand. Its retail price in the South Korean market is 260 million won.

Likewise, the North Korean leader was spotted on Dec. 8 last year using a first-generation Mercedes-Benz Maybach S-Class sedan that costs at least 300 million won in the National Conference of Mothers where he took pictures with participants. When he visited engineers in charge of launching intercontinental ballistic missiles on Dec. 20, he was seen in a Maybach S-Class limousine. The KCNA on Dec. 27 also showed the ruling Workers' Party's high-ranking officials arriving at a year-end general meeting in Mercedes-Benz cars.


Kyu-Jin Shin newjin@donga.com