North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has dispatched a precious peace offering to South Korean President Moon Jae In — two Pungsan puppies. The gifts come as the latest sign of warming ties between the historic foes.
The snow-white dogs, one male and one female, were sent south last week as a “symbol of peace,” according to South Korea’s Blue House. Kim reportedly offered the canines during the third inter-Korean summit, held in Pyongyang last month.
Kim also agreed at the summit to dismantle North Korea’s main nuclear facility, pending corresponding measures from the U.S.
The dogs completed a quarantine and passed through the heavily fortified demilitarized zone (DMZ) and the Panmunjom truce village on Thursday, according to the Blue House. Panmunjom is also where the armistice that suspended the Korean War was signed, and where Kim and Moon met in person for the first time in April last year.
The pair of pooches will join South Korea’s incumbent First Dog, Tori, who was adopted by Moon in 2017. Moon also already owns a Pungsan named Maru.
Pungsans are designated a North Korean “natural monument“.
This is not the first time the beloved breed has been bestowed in a diplomatic gesture, according to Reuters. Kim Jong Il gave two Pungsans to South Korean President Kim Dae Jung in 2000 when the two leaders met for the very first inter-Korea summit.
In 2013, Kim Jong Un also gifted two Pungsans to the widow of deceased Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, according to Agence France-Presse.
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