Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un’s Roadtrip Has Social Media Cracking Up
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s official state trip to North Korea to visit dictator Kim Jong Un had many memorable, even meme-worthy moments. The two struggled to agree when to end a handshake and who should get in their motorcade first. Putin even appeared to snap back at a barking dog that Kim Jung Un gave him. But the moment that really has the internet on fire with jokes is their little roadtrip.
Putin arrived in North Korea with a variety of gifts for Kim Jong Un including a tea set, a Russian naval officer’s dagger, and a luxurious Russian-built limousine. To celebrate the occasion, the two took a spin in the limo, insisting on driving it themselves.
The car is a Russian-built Aurus Senat. Aurus started in 2018, exclusively supplying motorcade vehicles to the Russian government. It is mostly owned by the government. The Senat is its first publicly available model, a retro-inspired luxury sedan and limousine with a 590 horsepower twin-turbocharged V8 co-engineered by Porsche.
Kim Jong Un is North Korea’s supreme leader and appears to be a bit of a motorhead. Though North Korea is under an embargo, he has managed to smuggle many cars through Russia. His collection now includes an armored Lexus sedan, multiple Mercedes-Maybach S650 sedans, Mercedes-Maybach limousines, a Rolls Royce Phantom, and a Cadillac Escalade. Curious how he ended up with all these cars? I’ve previously written about the tricks dictators use to get exotic cars around sanctions.
During Putin’s time in North Korea, the two leaders took a stroll through a park. They fed carrots to some horses and Kim Jong Un presented Putin with the aforementioned dogs. Then they got in the car Putin had given Kim Jong Un and went for a drive.
The cars was covered with cameras, including an interior dash camera. Their translators sat behind them and translated as both leaders cracked jokes. At a halfway point, the two swapped seats and Kim Jong Un drove Putin home.
Eagle-eyed viewers have pointed out how nervous Kim Jong Un looked while 71-year-old Putin was driving. The footage of them trying to swap seats, and Kim Jong Un forgetting something in the car, also has inspired some wisecracks.
Reddit comments included, “This week in Top Gear,” “Dictators in a Car Getting Coffee,” and “You just know Trump is seathing about not being there with his two BFFs.” Twitter comments included, “The real question is if they are listening to Drake or Kendrick?” “Please say this is AI…” and “PuKim.” The Telegraph even shared the video and titled it, “Putin and Kim ‘Carpool Karaoke.'” It’s only a matter of time before a still of these two driving together becomes a meme.
Through your best caption into the mix by clicking on the Twitter video embedded below:
