Putin’s presents for Kim Jong-un reveal what dictators’ Amazon Wishlists look like
If you’ve always wondered what’s on a dictator’s Amazon Wishlist (yes, we thought so) Vladimir Putin’s gifts to Kim Jong-un might just provide a clue.
The North Korean leader, heading home today after six days in Russia, received various presents from Putin, including a rifle, a cosmonaut’s glove and military drones.
The latter is a violation of UN sanctions – something Putin seemed happy to overlook.
The gifts will probably be displayed in the ‘friendship’ museum in North Korea, where items received from foreign dignitaries are kept.
Following the summit with Putin, Kim was given a Russian-made rifle ‘of the highest quality’, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
In return Kim gave the president a rifle ‘made by North Korean craftsmen’.
Putin also presented his guest with a glove from a spacesuit worn by a Russian in space, Russia’s TASS news agency revealed.
That violates at least two UN Security Council resolutions against North Korea – which Moscow voted to approve – imposed for its banned missile and nuclear activities.
Oleg Kozhemyako, the governor of the Primorsky region, meanwhile gave Kim a set of modern, lightweight body armour designed for assault operations that protects the chest, shoulders, throat and groin, according to Russian media.
During his visit to Vladivostok, where the North Korean leader inspected Russian nuclear bombers, fighter jets equipped with hypersonic missiles and a warship, defence minister Sergei Shoigu presented him with a fur hat.
There had been a scramble to determine the right size of the hat, said Russia’s RIA news agency. Russia’s ambassador to Pyongyang, Alexander Matsegora, suggested a size slightly smaller than his own ‘very large head’, which turned out to be just right.
‘It’s also important that this is a gift from the heart. And Comrade Kim Jong Un liked it,’ Mr Matsegora said.
At the start of his trip, Kim paid a visit to the town of Khasan, which lies close to Russia’s border with North Korea and China. Here he was given a photo of Yuri Gagarin, the cosmonaut who was the first human to orbit the Earth.
North Korea is very proud of gifts from foreign dignitaries and has put much effort into showcasing them – with a whole museum dedicated to the items.
Nestled in the hills of the Myohyangsan mountain 160 km (99 miles) from Pyongyang, the International Friendship Exhibition is two imposing concrete structures built in the traditional architectural style with blue tiled roofs.
Opened in 1978, the museum boasts more than 100 showrooms displaying more than 100,000 items from more than 200 countries.
The country’s state media has previously compared the scale and importance of the collection to the Louvre in Paris.
Among the museum’s gifts are crystalware sent by former US president Jimmy Carter, tea cup set from French president Francois Mitterrand, a basketball signed by Michael Jordan given by former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright on her visit in 2000, and a rifle given by the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
The way gifts from South Koreans are displayed link strongly to how the individuals are viewed by the north.
A large-screen TV set from former president Kim Dae-jung, who engaged Pyongyang with peace policies, receives a prominent showing.
The collection features a Hyundai Dynasty sedan that was gifted to Kim by the North Korean-born founder of the Hyundai Group, Chung Ju-yung, who spearheaded investment in the North after the 2000 inter-Korean summit.
Kim arrived in Russia on a slow-moving bullet-proof train, after spending 20 hours travelling from his home nation.
The train’s heavy armoured protection makes it rattle at a speed of about 50km/h (31mph) which is much slower than most modern trains.
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