WASHINGTON — The armored black limousines appear everywhere with Kim Jong-un, sleek Western chariots for the young dictator of North Korea. Flown in from the North Korean capital of Pyongyang on a cargo plane, the sedans carried Mr. Kim through the streets of Singapore, Hanoi and Vladivostok during summit meetings with President Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Sometimes a phalanx of bodyguards jogs beside them. The cars are top-of-the-line Mercedes-Benzes — the Maybach S600 Pullman Guard and the Maybach S62, popular with world leaders and costing up to $1.6 million each. And Mr. Kim is using them in open defiance of United Nations sanctions intended to ban luxury goods from North Korea.

Source: International New York Times July 16, 2019 09:42 UTC