‘Chair cleaning’ crisis at Kim-Putin meeting… Agents examined chair for minutes

The detail of “chair cleaning” was on the agenda of the meeting held yesterday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which generated concern in the Western world.

Kim, who traveled to Russia on a special train, met with Putin yesterday at the Vostochny Cosmodrome space station in the country’s Far East region. As Putin greeted Kim with the words “I’m glad to see you,” the North Korean leader, speaking through a translator, thanked Putin for his invitation and the two leaders shook hands for 40 seconds.

During the meeting, which was closely followed in the United States, a detail in the videos of North Korean private security guards caught attention. The agents, who took very high-level security measures during Kim’s visit, cleaned the chair where the North Korean leader would sit during his meeting with Putin for one minute.

Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that North Korean agents examined the chair for a long time before the meeting, cleaned it with disinfectant and prepared it.

In the published images, it can be seen that North Korean officials spoke for a long time in front of the chair, carrying out inspections, and a person wearing white gloves cleaned every part of the chair and even its surroundings with a cloth for minutes. Meanwhile, it was noteworthy that Kremlin security agents were watching the astonished North Koreans.

Kommersant Kremlin correspondent Andrey Kolesnikov said: “The presidency caused great concern on the North Korean side. “This has become a matter of life and death for them,” he said. According to the news, when Kim’s aides, who went to Russia with dozens of bodyguards, didn’t like the first chair, they found another one of the same chair.

North Korean leader Kim had traveled abroad only seven times during his 12 years in office.