Kim Jong-un’s chair was ‘greatest concern’ at Putin summit

The North Koreans didn’t leave any chances when it came to the comfort and safety of their leader

Kim Jong Un’s security team scrupulously inspected his chair and wiped it down with disinfectant before he could sit at Putin’s summit.

Video footage published by te Kommersant newspaper on Thursday showed a North Korean security official in white gloves attentively wiping down Kim’s black chair and spraying an unidentified substance.

The North Korean sprayed and wiped down the seat, the hands, the legs and even the area around the chair as a Kremlin bodyguard looked on in a slightly bemused way.

Another North Korean guard then gave some sort of order to the guard doing the disinfecting. The nature of the order was unclear.

“The chair turned out to be the subject of the greatest concern of the North Korean side,” wrote Kommersant’s Kremlin correspondent, Andrei Kolesnikov.

According to reports, Kim’s security team of 100 people were unhappy with the first chair provided and demanded another one, the Kommersant said.“

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Then a North Korean employee wiped the chair intended for Kim Jong Un for several minutes without stopping, wearing white gloves: judging by the smell he disinfected it,” said Kommersant, one of Russia’s leading newspapers.

Others have speculated the security team also carried out a vigrous check to ensure the chair could handle the North Korean’s weigh and that one guard used a metal detector to check the seat for booby traps and angerous devices.

Putin and Kim discussed military matters, the war in Ukraine and possible Russian help for North Korea’s satellite programme.