Kim Jong-un Invites Vladimir Putin To Ride Mercedes-Benz At Kim Il-sung Square, Where Did It Come From?

Kim Jong-un with President Putin during the welcoming ceremony at Kim Il-sung Square, Pyongyang. (Source: KCNA)

JAKARTA - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with President Vladimir boarded a luxury Mercedes-Benz, as the two crossed Kim Il-sung Square, marking the Russian President's visit on Wednesday.

Riding a Mercedes-Maybach suspected of being the S600 Pullman Guard, the two leaders seemed to stand up and wave to the crowd from the car whose roof of the glass was opened. The two leaders seemed to be talking familiarly, before then continuing the agenda of the day. However, where did the luxury sedan come from?

The existence of the luxury sedan attracted attention, because North Korea was under UN sanctions.

Back and forth, a Center For Advanced Studies (C4ADS) defense study center report reported that two Mercedes-Maybach S600 Pullman Guard armored sedans from the Dutch of Port Rottrdam, Netherlands on June 14, 2018, were quoted by CNN.

The car traveled a long way by stopping in China, Japan, South Korea and Russia, before arriving in Pyongyang, North Korea.

It was not clear who bought the car for the first time. However, the car had a'misterious' trip when the ship carrying it from Busan Port (South Korea) to Nakhodka Harbor in Russia's far east had stopped sending its automatic identification signal for 18 days, which it said was common for ships avoiding sanctions, quoted from The New York Times.

When it turned on again, the ship was already in South Korean waters, on its way back to Busan carrying 2,588 metric tons of coal which was then dismantled in Pohang. Customs records in South Korea show that the ship had taken the coal in Nakhodka, according to a C4ADS report.

The report did not explain what happened in the port city with the sedans. However, researchers suspect it was flown from Russia to North Korea, due to the arrival of three northern Korean Air Koryo cargo jets in Vladivostok adjacent to the Nakhoda on October 7. On January 31, 2019, the same Mercedes model drove through Pyongyang's path to the headquarters of the Korean Labor Party's central committee, according to a video footage analyzed by NK Pro. The sedans also appeared that day with leader Kim in a photo session with an art delegation.

Daimler, Mercedes' parent company, said Mercedes was carrying out background checks on prospective vehicle buyers to ensure the company did not sell to sanction violators.

"Our company has had no business relationship with North Korea for more than 15 years and strictly adhered to the EU and US embargoes. To prevent shipments to North Korea and its embassies around the world, Daimler has implemented a comprehensive export control process, which we deem appropriate and effective as well as meeting all export control authority requirements," the company said in a statement to CNN 2019.

"The sale of vehicles by third parties, especially used vehicles, is beyond our control and responsibility. We always investigate vehicles displayed on photos in the media as a whole. However, without vehicle identification numbers, it is impossible to find concrete traces," he continued.

Last January, Leader Kim was caught on camera riding a black SUV. Reporting from The Chosun Daily, the car is suspected of being the Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600. It is one of Mercedes' latest products.

After that, Mercedes-Benz conducted an investigation into how its luxury vehicles arrived in North Korea despite sanctions prohibiting the export of luxury goods to the country, VOA reported.

In a statement, the company said it had "has no business relationship with North Korea for more than 15 years" and did not know how its vehicles could "be used by the North Korean government."

The statement continues, "To prevent shipments to North Korea, Mercedes-Benz has implemented a comprehensive export control process" and "strongly adheres to the US and European Union embargoes."

Apart from Mercedes, leader Kim is known to have also been seen driving a number of luxury vehicles suspected of being Lexus to Rolls-Royce (at the time of welcoming US Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo in 2018)

The UN Security Council issued a resolution in 2006 banning its member states from exporting luxury goods to North Korea, as a sanction for its nuclear weapons development program. It was later expanded in a resolution passed in 2013.