News that Russian President Vladimir Putin gave North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a luxury car has sparked resentment among some North Koreans, Daily NK has learned.
“Whenever residents of Chongjin hear that the Marshal [Kim Jong Un] recently received a car from President Putin, they furrow their brows,” a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.
According to the source, such news is bound to be unpleasant for people who are tightening their belts in the face of continuing hardship.
Indeed, Chongjin residents reacted with irritation to the report of Kim’s car gift.
“They shouldn’t have reported it on the news,” said one person.
“I doubt he got the car for free. He must have given them something of equal value to the car,” mused another.
“If he really cared about the people, he would have asked for food instead of a car and given everyone a few kilos,” said a third.
Frustration is growing, the source said, as more families go hungry with no rations in sight, despite recent rumors that the government has profited handsomely from arms sales to Russia. Under the circumstances, the news that Kim had received a car rubbed some North Koreans the wrong way.
But North Koreans share their thoughts only with people they can trust, never daring to speak openly, knowing that the authorities could take them and their family members away for saying such things.
The source quoted one frustrated Chongjin resident as saying: “People like us are so poor that we can barely find grass to chew. Still, we have to make a living somehow, or else we’ll have to beg on the streets until we roll over and die. For people like us, it’s better not to hear that [Kim] received a car as a gift, because it will only make us more neurotic.
Another Chongjin resident shared the following thoughts. “They may try to keep us in the dark, but we’re not blind and deaf. We know what’s going on. The North Koreans know very well that we have to tighten our belts so that they can make weapons, sell them to other countries, and then use the proceeds to make more weapons. I have no idea who benefits from strengthening our military or developing nuclear weapons. To me, the news about the car felt like mocking hungry people by putting some meat in front of them and saying, “Look at this! Don’t you wish you could have some?'”
“If people were making enough money to get by on their own, they would probably let it go without getting so emotional about it. They’re particularly sensitive about it because they’re living in unbearably difficult financial circumstances,” the source said.
State media: Gifted vehicle a “symbol of special friendship” between Russia and the DPRK
The Rodong Sinmun and other North Korean media reported that Putin gave Kim a Russian-made vehicle on Feb. 20.
State-run media reported that Pak Jong Chon, a party secretary, and Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un’s younger sister, had received the gift from the Russians on Feb. 18, and quoted Kim Yo Jong as saying, “This is a fine gift that will serve as a clear symbol of the special friendship that has developed between the leaders of our two countries.”
At first, North Korean media did not print any photos of the car or any details about it, such as the name of the model. But then some young people became curious about the identity of the car, asking how much it was worth and what its global ranking was.
Reports in the North Korean media generated considerable interest in Kim’s gift even in South Korea, and the Russians soon confirmed that the vehicle was an Aurus.
The Aurus is a full-size luxury sedan manufactured in Russia. Putin personally showed Kim an Aurus during Kim’s visit to Russia last year, and Kim showed great interest, even jumping into the backseat with Putin.
Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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