He Russian President Vladimir Putin gave to the regime North Korea dozens of animals, including a lion and two bears, in a new gesture of closeness between Moscow y PyongyangRussian officials said Wednesday.
“Today I give my Korean comrades a gift of Vladimir Putin to the zoo Pyongyang. We have brought more than 70 specimens,” said the head of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of RussiaAlexandr Kozlov, in the North Korean capital, quoted by his press office.
The two countries have deepened their political, military and cultural ties amid the offensive of Russia in Ukrainecon Putin and the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un repeatedly professing their personal camaraderie.
“One African lion, two brown bears, two domestic yaks, five white cockatoos, 25 pheasants of various species and 40 mandarin ducks were transferred from the Moscow Zoo to the Zoo Pyongyang“added the official in the statement.
In a video released about the shipment, you can see the animals in cargo boxes, being unloaded from a government plane, and another of the lion in its new enclosure in the Pyongyang Zoo.
Putin previously gave to Kim 24 purebred horses, known to be Kim’s favorites.
The minister highlighted that “animals have historically occupied an important place in interstate relations; They are given as a sign of support, kindness and concern.”
Kozlov, co-chairman of Russia of the Russian-North Korean intergovernmental commission for economic and trade cooperation, highlighted that Moscow and Pyongyang zoos They have been cooperating for 13 years.
The two countriesboth under heavy Western sanctions, signed a mutual defense pact earlier this year that obligates them to provide immediate military assistance if the other is invaded.
Western capitals, as well as Ukraine and South Koreathey say that North Korea has recently deployed more than 10,000 of its troops in Russiato be sent to fight against the forces of Kiev.
In June of this year, Kim He gave two white hunting dogs, of the Korean breed Pungsanto the Russian president after holding a historic summit in Pyongyang in which the president of Kremlin offered his interlocutor a presidential limousine made in Russia.
Kim introduced the dogs to Putin while they were taking a walk in the garden Kumsusan Guest Palacewhere the Russian leader stayed, and after signing a key agreement in the continuation of their bilateral relations, according to the North Korean state agency KCNA.
According to Korean legendsit is a hunting dog so powerful that it would be able to hunt a tiger, in addition to being adapted to mountainous regions and having a noble temperament so it would never attack its owners.
Kim I had already made this gift in 2018 to the former South Korean president Moon Jae-in during their summit in 2018, and his father, Kim Jong Ilto the former South Korean president Kim Dae-jungduring the inter-Korean summit in 2000.
The gift of Kim toward Putin It occurred in the context of a summit in the North Korean capital that marked the first visit of the president of Moscow to the hermetic country in more than 24 years.
(With information from AFP and EFE)
