MOSCOW/PYONGYANG: The leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-Un, received the cutest–and deadliest–gift a head of state can be surprised with.
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, sent a shipment of over 70 animals for the Pyongyang Central Zoo on Thursday.
Read more: Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine: Putin
The unorthodox diplomatic gift includes an African lion, two brown bears, two yaks, 40 mandarin ducks, 25 pheasants and five white cockatoos.
The gifts come as Russia finds itself increasingly isolated following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. As United States (US) led Western nations in imposing crippling sanctions on Russia, the Eurasian giant had to turn to other nations.
Putin embarked on a diplomatic trip to North Korea and Mongolia among other states earlier in the year to drum up economic support for Russian economy.
Isolated and heavily sanctioned as well, North Korea enthusiastically responded to Putin’s visit. The pariah state pledged thousands of its troops to the Ukrainian war, with reports recently surfacing of over 10,000 North Korean soldiers spotted in Kursk (Russia) bordering Ukraine.
During the visit, the two states signed several mutual defense agreements, as well.
Read more: Russia launched ICBM during attack on Ukraine, Kyiv says
The animals were transported from the Moscow Zoo to North Korea, with Russian Environment Minister, Alexander Kozlov, overseeing the transfer.
The Russia Natural Resources and Environment Ministry described the gesture as “a gift from Vladimir Putin to the Korean people”.
The tradition of gifting animals is not new, however. China has long been known to employ what is dubbed as “panda diplomacy”: sending cute, bamboo-eating furry creatures to different countries as symbols of friendship.
Kim Jong-Un has also utilised the tactic, presenting two Pungsan dogs to his former South Korean counterpart, Moon Jea-In, in 2018.
Read more: US shuts embassy after Ukraine fires ATACMS at Russia
Cuba is similarly housing several exotic animals gifted to the isolated socialist nation from several African countries when it pursued diplomatic relations with newly independent African states at the height of Cold War. It also faced crippling economic embargo from the United States, which is still in effect today.
The furry friends are currently in quarantine and will be acclimatised before being placed in their new enclosures at the Pyongyang Zoo.