North Korea's Kim gives pair of dogs to Putin

20/6/2024 17:31

        North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a pair of Pungsan dogs, a local breed, state media KCNA reported on Thursday.
        Kim and Putin were seen looking at the dogs, who were tied to a rose-covered fence, during a segment aired on the state-controlled Korean Central Television on Thursday.
        
        The two bonded over animals as Kim fed carrots to a horse while Putin patted it on its head. They also took turns driving each other around in a Russian-built Aurus limousine on Wednesday.
        
        Kim, a horseman, was famously pictured riding a white stallion in Mount Paektu during snowfall in photos released by state media in 2019, flooding the internet with memes.
        
        He was seen riding a white horse again in a propaganda video in 2022.
        
        The horses Kim rode are symbolic for North Korea, which named its economic effort to recover from the 1950-53 Korean War after the mythical winged horse Chollima. The country's latest rocket booster is also named Chollima-1.