A motorcade transporting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and other members of the delegation drives along a road in Vladivostok, Russia, on Sept 16, 2023. - Reuters
SEOUL (The Korea Herald/Asia News Network): North Korean state-run media on Wednesday (Sept 20) broadcast a documentary that featured North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s motorcade in Russia, notably escorted by vans manufactured by South Korea’s auto giant, Hyundai Motor.
The state-controlled Korean Central Television (KCTV), which primarily targets the North’s domestic audience, unveiled an hour-and-a-half-long documentary A Historical Moment: Setting a New Milestone in North Korea-Russia Relations, providing a comprehensive account of Kim’s 10-day overseas journey to Russia.
Kim embarked on a train journey from Pyongyang to Russia on Sept 10 to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and tour cities in the region. Kim returned to Pyongyang on Tuesday night.
The documentary featured Kim’s armoured Mercedes-Benz vehicle decorated with the national flag of North Korea and the flag of the State Affairs Commission, accompanied by a fleet of black vans.
One of the vans in the fleet displayed Hyundai Motor’s distinctive “H” emblem. The van appears to be the carmaker’s Staria model. Subsequent vans in the convoy also appeared to display the logo.
The documentary consistently displayed the van bearing the Hyundai emblem from the moment Kim arrived in the far eastern city of Vladivostok on Sept 16. This continued until he departed from the city the following day.
The documentary also included multiple close-up shots of the van featuring the Hyundai logo.
The convoy was filmed as it escorted Kim during his journey to watch a ballet performance of The Sleeping Beauty at the Primorsky stage of Mariinsky Theatre last Saturday night.
The van bearing the Hyundai logo remained present as Kim made his way to the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University on Russky Island off Vladivostok on Sunday morning, and later to the Primorsky Aquarium.
After visiting the Arnika Bio-Feed Mill, which was the last stop, Kim’s car was observed heading to the train station, still guarded by the Hyundai van.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry found North Korea’s decision to openly display the Hyundai logo in its unedited form unusual, particularly given the apparent editing of the video.
This stands in contrast to past instances, such as the broadcast of the 2022 Qatar World Cup matches, when North Korea’s KCTV obscured Hyundai car advertisements in the stadium to the point of them being unrecognisable.
“The public display of the South Korean trademark in such a manner is not commonly observed in the documentary,” said a senior official at the Unification Ministry who requested to remain anonymous during a closed-door briefing on Thursday.
The official, however, said that the ministry was unable to immediately confirm North Korea’s intention behind broadcasting the Hyundai logo, nor was it able to determine whether the vans were provided by Russia or brought in from North Korea.
