21 June 2024 , 07:34
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A video captured the bizarre moment Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are caught giggling on a drive around North Korea in a Carpool Karaoke-style video.
The meeting of the dictators ended with an emotional goodbye as Putin, 71, waved away the Supreme Leader before leaving his trip to North Korea and continuing on to Vietnam. Footage taken from inside a £350,000 bulletproof Aurus limousine shows the pair cruising around the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.
Putin took to the wheel on Wednesday with Kim, 40, seated next to him as the dictators travelled without their security teams. The video captures Putin cracking jokes towards a laughing Kim.
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Putin and Kim Jong-Un laughed while driving the gifted limo (KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Image)The two are believed to share their "pent-up inmost thoughts" on their car rides together, according to North Korean state media. During their car journey, they even found time to swap seats as Kim took the wheel of his new limo, a gift from Putin.
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Signalling the end of his two-day state visit to North Korea, Putin boarded his presidential plane on Wednesday night and jetted off to Vietnam. As the plane began to take off, Putin's head popped up by a window as he scanned the crowd for Kim.
Putin clasped his hands and lifted them before waving down at Kim, who waved back from the ground, standing on a red carpet. The goodbye ceremony continued for some time, with the pair smiling and waving at one another.
The Russian-made limousine wasn't the only lavish gift the pair exchanged. Putin also gave Kim an admiral's dagger and a tea set. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the tea set was "very beautiful".
The two leaders during the visit (KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Image)The aide said Putin received "also very good presents". In return, the Supreme Leader gifted Putin a pair of Pungsan dogs.
The hunting dogs are famed for their throat-ripping prowess. Both leaders have described the visit as a substantial enhancement of their relations, encompassing security, trade, investment, cultural and humanitarian ties.
This summit coincides with Putin's first visit to North Korea in 24 years, raising concerns among the US and its allies about a potential arms deal. This arrangement could see Pyongyang supplying Moscow with much-needed ammunition for its war in Ukraine, in return for economic aid and technology transfers that could escalate the threat from Kim's nuclear weapons and missile programme.
The coverage of the Kim-Putin meeting this week — visuals released only by the respective propaganda arms of each government — represented an extraordinary flurry of views into a nation where imagery that feels even remotely off the cuff, not vetted and edited ad nauseam, is rare.