A video showing Russian President Vladimir Putin drive North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a Russian-built Aurus limousine has gone viral on social media. In an attempt to show the growing proximity between the two nations and their leaders.
In the video first released by Russian state TV, the Kremlin leader is seeing behind the wheel of the black armoured Aurus, which is his official presidential car in Russia, with Kim sitting in the passenger seat. As the car drives through a manicured park area, the two leaders chat and laugh throughout their journey.
The leaders took turns to drive each other while they shared a jovial conversation during the ride.
After the brief drive, the two leader are then shown walking side by side and chatting on a path in a wooded area. According to reports, Putin had gifted Kim the Russian-built limousine in February this year and has again gifted him the same vehicle. Kim, who is believed to be a keen automobile enthusiast, now has at least two of the vehicles
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.
The Aurus Senat, retro-styled after the Soviet-era ZIL limousine, is the official Russian presidential car. When Kim visited Russia in September last year, Putin showed him one of the vehicles.
In return, the North Korean leader gave the Russian President a pair of Pungsan dogs, a local breed. Kim and Putin were seen looking at the dogs, who were tied to a rose-covered fence, during a segment aired on the state-controlled Korean Central Television on Thursday. The two bonded over animals as Kim fed carrots to a horse while Putin patted it on its head.
The leaders of North Korea and Russia also signed an agreement that deepens their military cooperation to include a mutual defence pledge to help each other if attacked, with the Kim Jong Un calling the new ties an "alliance".
(With agency inputs)