North Korean Releases Video
Kim Jong Un’s Escort vehicle
The World is in Shock Over This Car
On the 13th, North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un‘s visit to Russia and his summit with Putin became a global issue. Russia, excluded from the international community for starting a war, met North Korea. Many countries showed interest in the meeting of these two leaders.
On the 19th, Kim Jong Un completed his 5-night, 6-day schedule in Russia and returned to North Korea in his armored train. Kim Jong Un naturally received thorough protection while moving to other places in Russia. However, the world focused on the identity of the escort vehicles surrounding Kim Jong Un’s vehicle. What kind of vehicle would it have been?
Confirmed as Hyundai Starex
It seems to be Provided by Russia
On the 21st, North Korea’s Korean Central TV released a video titled “A Historic Occasion that Set a New Milestone in the Development of North Korea-Russia Relations.” They recorded Kim Jong Un’s visit to Russia. In the video, Kim Jong Un travels in a Maybach 62, his favorite car. However, the identity of the four vehicles escorting Kim Jong Un’s vehicle is a big issue. The identity of these vehicles turned out to be Hyundai’s MPV model, Starex.
The scene was reportedly filmed on the 13th, while Kim Jong Un was moving to Vladivostok after his summit with Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome. The process by which the ‘Starex’ appeared as an escort vehicle also sparked many people’s curiosity. Looking at the video, the cars have Russian license plates, so it seems that they were escort vehicles provided by Russia.
An Unerased Mistake?
Or a Sign of Gratitude
Russia would not be unusual to provide Hyundai vehicles as courtesy cars to foreign leaders. Indeed, Hyundai had received much recognition in Russia, recording high sales until the outbreak of war with Ukraine. What is more eye-catching is that the Hyundai logo on the vehicle was visible in the video broadcast by North Korea so that anyone could recognize it as a Hyundai.
Considering the relations between the two countries and North Korea’s position on South Korea, North Korea would not want to mention South Korea. Therefore, there are bound to be many questions about the appearance of Hyundai in the video. This issue is divided into the opinion that it was a mistake not processed during the video editing process and that it was a sign of gratitude and courtesy for Russia’s treatment.
It seems to have no political meaning
Focus on the relationship between the two countries
North Korea had also completely erased the trace of Hyundai in the commercial during the 2022 Qatar World Cup broadcast. Therefore, it seems North Korea, extremely sensitive to exposure to South Korea, did not erase the Hyundai logo in the video as a sign of gratitude to Russia. If North Korea had shown a politically sensitive reaction by artificially editing the favor provided by Russia, it would have looked diplomatically negative.
After completing a 6-day schedule in Russia, Kim Jong Un headed to North Korea on his private armored train, also known as a bulletproof fortress. North Korea and Russia announced active exchanges, heralding the heyday of the development of bilateral relations through this meeting. Meanwhile, the UN strongly criticized any military trade between the two countries, saying North Korea’s involvement in Russia’s war would be sanctioned.
By. Seo Yunji (fv_editor@fastviewkorea.com)
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