Chair without back legs, worries if '130kg Kim Jong-un' can bear it... North Korean aides hurriedly replaced it

Foreign Media: "It Was a Matter of Life and Death for Them"

North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un's aides were seen visibly anxious over the chair designated for him during his visit to Russia.

On the 14th (local time), Russian daily Kommersant and others detailed the preparations by North Korean aides for the summit between Chairman Kim and President Vladimir Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's Amur Oblast the previous day.

According to reports, the North Korean aides appeared troubled and shook their heads upon seeing the chair intended for Kim. The issue seemed to be the design of the chair, which lacked rear legs. The media reported that the aides repeatedly sat on and got up from the chair with tense expressions.

Attendants checking the chair where Kim Jong-un will sit [Photo by X (formerly Twitter)]

In video footage of the scene, three or four aides dressed in black suits gathered around the seat for Chairman Kim to inspect the chair. They were seen applying pressure as if testing its durability.

Afterward, they spoke to on-site personnel and replaced the chair for Kim with another chair originally meant for ministers attending the summit. Although the design was identical, it was presumed to appear safer to the aides on site.

The aides' meticulousness did not end there. Wearing white gloves, they took out white cloths and carefully wiped and disinfected the backrest and armrests of the replaced chair. They also scanned the chair with a device resembling a small metal detector before leaving the spot.

Throughout this process, the chair for Putin was left alone on the right side without much attention from the Russian side, creating a stark contrast. Russian local media noted the differing atmospheres between the two sides, reporting that "the biggest concern for the North Korean side was the chair," adding that "this was a matter of life and death not only for the leader (Kim Jong-un) but for them as well."

Foreign online media such as the UK's Daily Mail also highlighted this scene, commenting, "While the two leaders talked about friendship, North Korea did not want to leave anything suspicious behind." They analyzed that the aides' extreme caution in checking the chair stemmed from suspicions that Putin might have poisoned the chair, concluding that "Kim Jong-un did not trust Putin."

They also noted, "Kim Jong-un weighs over 130 kg, and if the chair were to break under his weight, it would be very embarrassing for him as a leader trying to demonstrate his strength."

[Photo by Yonhap News]

The aides' meticulous behavior was also observed outside the summit venue. The aides arrived in Russia on the 12th, the day before the summit, and attracted attention as they ran around the train platform holding something while waiting for Chairman Kim's arrival. The device they carried was identified as a portable weather observation instrument measuring temperature, wind speed, dew point, and other factors.

Additionally, when Chairman Kim arrived at the summit venue to meet President Putin, there was reportedly fierce competition for positions between North Korean and Russian photographers.

North Korean journalists did not budge even an inch, firmly holding their spots without any intention to yield. Regarding this situation, a Kommersant reporter said, "I would definitely yield to my North Korean colleagues because it was a matter of life and death for them."

Seeing the intense power struggle between the journalists of both countries, President Putin personally intervened, saying, "Please get along."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.