Attempt to smuggle Lexus to North Korea spotlights Kim Jong-un's fondness for fine cars

Japanese police cracked down on a used-car dealer in Japan for attempting to illegally smuggle a luxury Lexus vehicle to North Korea, according to the report on Thursday in the Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese daily newspaper.

Kim Jong-un stands next to a vehicle with a Lexus logo during his visit to Yangdok Hot Spring Cultural Recreation Center, in images carried by North Korea’s state-run media, Korean Central News Agency, on Dec. 8, 2020. [KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY]

Japanese police cracked down on a used-car dealer in Japan for attempting to illegally smuggle a luxury Lexus vehicle to North Korea, according to the report on Thursday in the Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese daily newspaper.

Police raided the Chiba city-based dealer’s headquarters Thursday morning to collect evidence for alleged violations of the Japanese Customs Act.

The company manages the international sale and shipment of vehicles and automobile parts.

The report says that the dealer tried to smuggle a Lexus vehicle, a high-end car made by Toyota Motor, to North Korea via Bangladesh after falsely declaring Singapore as its final destination.

However, the Japanese authorities got wind of the scheme before the vehicle could be shipped to North Korea.

The vehicle reportedly costs 10 million yen ($69,029).

A UN Security Council resolution from 2013 banned the export of high-end cars and other luxury items to North Korea, while another resolution from 2017 banned the export of means of transportation.

Despite international sanctions, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been spotted with luxury vehicles by Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and other manufacturers during public appearances.

NK News, a U.S.-based North Korea-focused media organization, reported that a Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 from 2019 and Lexus LX SUV from 2022 appeared during Kim’s visit to the Ryongsong Machine Complex in Hamheung, South Hamgyong Province last month.

Kim’s late father and former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il enjoyed engaging in so-called gift politics, offering Mercedes-Benzes to loyal high-ranking officials.

Anthony Ruggiero, a senior director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a U.S.-based foreign policy research institute, told Radio Free Asia that Kim Jong-un imports luxury cars for himself, his relatives and military leaders.

Ruggiero said North Korea typically employs circuitous smuggling routes.

He added that sanctions would only be effective when violations are published and North Korea's overseas beneficiaries are sanctioned.

BY BAE JAE-SUNG, LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]