NK leader spotted in latest Mercedes SUV despite sanctions

Kim Jong-un (center) gets out of a black SUV in a screenshot captured from a North Korean documentary video released Monday. The vehicle is believed to be a Mercedes-Maybach GLS600 with the mark of the chairman of the State Affairs Commission on the center of the rear door. (Yonhap)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was spotted getting out of an apparent luxury Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle in footage aired by the North's Korean Central Television on Monday, despite ongoing international sanctions on imports of luxury goods to Pyongyang, raising questions as to the effect of international deterrents against North Korea.

In the documentary video, Kim is seen exiting a black SUV of which the passenger-side rear door is emblazoned with "Chairman of the State Affairs Commission," indicating that the vehicle belongs to Kim.

The SUV is presumed to be a Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600, which is a top-class model produced by Mercedes-Benz under the Maybach label. The vehicle price starts from about 260 million won ($194,000) in South Korea.

This is not the first time Kim has appeared in public with a Mercedes-Benz automobile. Kim was seen in a Maybach S-class sedan in Dec. 8 last year, and again in a Maybach S-class limousine when he was encouraging officials involved in the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on Dec. 20. UN Security Council sanctions ban North Korea from importing transportation.

High-ranking North Korean officials have also been spotted in foreign luxury cars, including Premier Kim Tok-hun arriving at the venue of a year-end party meeting in late December in a Mercedes-Benz sedan, separate footage showed.

Mercedes-Benz has stated that the company is investigating how officials in Pyongyang are purchasing the German products.

"Mercedes-Benz has had no business connection with North Korea for far more than 15 years and has strictly complied with the US and EU embargoes," the German automaker said in a statement sent to the Voice of America early this month.

To prevent deliveries to North Korea, Mercedes-Benz has implemented a comprehensive export control process. However, the company added that sales of vehicles by third parties, especially used vehicles, are outside of its control and responsibility, explaining it is impossible to trace a specific vehicle without checking its vehicle identification number.

By Choi Jeong-yoon(jychoi@heraldcorp.com)