During his visit to Pyongyang, Russian leader Vladimir Putin presented North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with an Aurus car. Reuters journalists found out that spare parts from South Korea, the "main enemy" of the DPRK, were used in this car.
Specifically, Russia imported at least $34 million worth of equipment and parts between 2018 and 2023 for Aurus cars and motorcycles.
South Korea imported body parts, sensors, programmable controllers, switches, welding equipment and other components for a total amount of almost $15.5 million. Spare parts were also imported from China, India, Turkey, Italy and other EU countries.
Foreign supplies for Aurus continued even after Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine: since February 2022, almost $16 million worth of goods have been imported. Of these, the cost of parts produced in South Korea was $5 million.
Reuters was unable to determine which imported foreign parts were in the car gifted to Kim, and the imports did not violate sanctions — Aurus LLC was only subject to U.S. sanctions in February 2024.
The Aurus sedan was developed by the Russian state research institute in partnership with the Russian car manufacturer Sollers.