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After more 5,000 people were evacuated following severe flooding near North Korea’s border with China, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was spotted visiting the affected areas in an unexpected vehicle: a Lexus LX 600.
Despite high floodwaters, photos of Kim’s visit showed the LX 600 driving through difficult areas, including along muddy roads and even plowing through several feet of water.
While seasonal flooding is common in the region, information about — and visuals of — North Korea’s disaster management are rare, as the isolated nation keeps a tight lid on actual conditions within its borders. State-released photos and quotes show Kim “putting himself out there and demonstrating that the state is able to provide for its people,” as North Korean analyst Gordon Kang put it to the BBC.
Kim praised the rescue and evacuation efforts and condemned officials for a lack of preparedness in this flood season, according to the Korean Central News Agency as reported by the Associated Press.
Kim, who reportedly once executed two senior officials of his government by shooting them with an anti-aircraft gun, appears to have something of a soft spot for Lexus’s version of the Toyota Land Cruiser. During another round of severe summer flooding in 2020, Kim visited a flooded village in a Lexus LX 570; that time, however, he was seen behind the wheel, rather than being chauffeured.
Reuters has reported that Kim, who has a noted fondness for spending exorbitant sums on high-end goods while his nation’s people have been forced at times to eat grass to survive, “is believed to be a keen automobile enthusiast.” Kim’s fleet is reported to include cars made by Mercedes-Benz and Rolls-Royce, even though United Nations sanctions prohibit the export of luxury materials to North Korea. And in June 2024, he was photographed taking a drive with Russian president Vladimir Putin in a Russian-made Aurus Senat, gifted to Kim by Putin and estimated to cost around $274,000 as of 2019.
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