North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presented Russian President Vladimir Putin with a pair of local Pungsan dogs, according to North Korea’s state news agency KCNA.
North Korean state television showed Kim and Putin petting the dogs, during the latter’s visit to the country. The dogs were tied to a fence adorned with roses. Additionally, Kim is seen feeding a carrot to a horse, while Putin pets the animal’s head.
Kim, an avid horseman, was previously photographed riding a white horse on Mount Paektu in the snow, in images released by state media in 2019. He was also seen riding a white horse in a 2022 propaganda video.
The horses Kim rides hold symbolic significance in North Korea. The country’s post-Korean War economic recovery effort was named after the mythical winged horse Chollima, and North Korea’s first promotional missile was also named Chollima-1.
Pungsan dogs are a hunting breed native to a northern region of North Korea. In 2018, former South Korean President Moon Jae-in received a pair of white Pungsan dogs, named ‘Gomi’ and ‘Songgang,’ from Kim during a period of inter-Korean rapprochement.
In 2022, a freight train carrying 30 grey purebred horses to North Korea left the Russian Far East via the Khasan-Tumangan crossing, according to the Russian veterinary service.
This was the first reported rail shipment of cargo between the two countries since the pandemic.
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