Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader, is returning home from Russia with a collection of gifts from his hosts, including a high-quality Russian rifle, a cosmonaut’s glove, and military drones.
These gifts are destined for the “friendship” museum, where North Korea stores gifts received by its three generations of leaders.
Gifts from Russia
Kim received a top-tier Russian rifle following his summit with President Putin, reciprocating with a rifle crafted by North Korean artisans.
Putin also presented him with a space glove from a spacesuit worn in orbit.
The governor of the Primorsky region gave Kim modern, lightweight body armour designed for assault operations.
Kim was also gifted five one-way attack drones and a Geranium-25 reconnaissance drone, which violates UN Security Council resolutions, despite Moscow’s approval.
Additionally, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu gifted Kim a fur hat in Vladivostok during his inspection of Russian military equipment.
The International Friendship Exhibition in North Korea, situated in the Myohyangsan mountains, serves as the repository for such diplomatic gifts, housing over 115,000 items from more than 200 countries.
This vast collection, opened in 1978, is often compared in scale and importance to the Louvre in Paris.
The exhibition includes gifts from notable figures like former US President Jimmy Carter, French President Francois Mitterrand, and a basketball signed by Michael Jordan from former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
South Korean gifts, particularly from those who engaged in peace initiatives, are prominently displayed, and the museum features a Hyundai Dynasty sedan gifted by Chung Ju-yung, the North Korean-born founder of the Hyundai Group, symbolising inter-Korean investments after the 2000 summit.
