The alliance between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un go beyond the purely military domain. Proof of this is that this week the Russian president gave more than 70 animalsincluding a lion and two bears, at the Pyonyang Central Zoo, as reported by the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology.
“Today we give our Korean comrades a gift from Vladimir Putin at the pyongyang zoo. We brought more than 70 copies”, we can read in the press release. Concretely, it was the minister in charge of the portfolio, Alexander Kozlovwho communicated the sending of this gift. “Animals have historically occupied an important place in interstate relations; they are given as a sign of support, kindness and concern,” he explains in a text.
Besides the lion and the two bears, Putin’s gift includes two tame yaks, five white cockatoos, 25 pheasants and 40 mandarin ducks. Kozlov, Russian co-chairman of the Russian-North Korean intergovernmental commission for economic and trade cooperation, noted that the two countries’ zoos have been cooperating for 13 years.
And the truth is that this is not the first animal gift between leaders. Recently, Putin sent 24 purebred horses to the North Korean leader, who in turn gave him two white Korean-bred hunting dogs. Pungsan. The exchange took place after the historic summit of Pyongyang in which the president of Kremlin offered his interlocutor a presidential limousine made in Russia.
Furthermore, Kim introduced the dogs to Poutine while they were walking in the garden Kumsusan Guest Palacewhere the Russian leader stayed after signing a key agreement in the continuation of their bilateral relations, as detailed by the North Korean agency. KCNA.
Military cooperation
Concretely, in summer, the two countries they signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership agreement” which included a mutual assistance clause “in the event of aggression”. Although the exact terms of the agreement are unknown, the truth is that Pyongyang has already supplied weapons and ammunition to Russian troops. And not only that.
In recent weeks, the intelligence services of Western countries and Ukraine itself have warned that there are approximately 11,000 North Korean troops deployed to the front lines fighting with Russia under this agreement. These soldiers were notably sent to the Russian region of Kursk, invaded by Ukraine this summer. We could therefore expect that the delivery of these 70 animalsIt was a gesture of gratitude for sending troops.
