Kim Jong Un Dubbed ‘Meter Man’ — Owes $156K To NYC In Parking Tickets, But Denies Debt

Kim Jong Un has been dubbed “Rocket Man” by Donald Trump, but it looks like New York City might also tack a nickname on the North Korean dictator for the hundreds of thousands of dollars he owes in unpaid parking tickets. Fox & Friends on Thursday morning have dubbed Kim “Meter Man” for the sizable debt he owes to the Big Apple.

These parking tickets date as far back as the 1990s and while Kim Jong Un hasn’t racked these tickets up himself, it is the dignitaries under Kim’s dictatorship who have. When addressing this large debt, Kim Jong Un denies he owes this money to New York City, according to the New York Post.

It is members of Kim Jong Un’s diplomatic mission to the United Nations who have racked up this bill making them one of the biggest holders of unpaid parking tickets in the city. The 1,300 unpaid tickets come to a whopping $156,000.

A diplomat from North Korea, Jong Jo, claims there must be a mistake at the department that handles the parking tickets for New York City. The Big Apple has the right to withhold parking privileges for any country’s visiting diplomats if there are three or more outstanding parking tickets in their name. Jo said simply, “It’s not true.”

Jo points out that the city would not have allowed the country to renew their parking privileges if there were so many outstanding unpaid tickets. He added, “Whenever we have a ticket, we pay.”

According to NBC News, there is a parking memorandum that allows the parking privileges of foreign dignitaries to be withheld, which was put in place back in 2002. But in the case of North Korea, like some of the other countries that owe these fines, many of the tickets owed were issued before the memorandum was signed.

North Korea is not alone in their debt for parking tickets owed to New York City. The countries of Russia, China, Iran, and Syria owe a combined debt of over $1 million. New Yorkers who have paid their parking tickets consider this news a slap in the face, reports the Post.

If the regular city dweller didn’t pay what they owed, their vehicles would be towed or fitted with a boot, keeping the car stationary until the tickets were paid. This is not happening to these vehicles owned by the diplomats visiting from other countries.

Mayor de Blasio’s administration has conveyed that the parking tickets issued before 2002 are not forgiven and for this reason, it is “time to pay up,” suggests the Post.

[Featured Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Images]