Kim Jong-un’s paranoia was on full display after a meeting with Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of China’s World War II military parade.
Even surrounded by allies, like the Russian president, North Korea’s leader is going to extraordinary lengths to protect himself while travelling abroad.
Footage shared on a Russian Telegram channel showed staff ‘destroying’ all traces that the dictator had attended the bilateral talks in Beijing.
They were seen taking away the glass he drank from and vigorously wiping down his seat and every part of furniture he had touched with wet wipes.
The most colourful explanation to the weird behaviour is Kim’s persecution complex.
Whatever the exact reason, the leader has long feared high-ranking traitors and defectors, and has faced multiple assassination plots – one allegedly organised by the CIA.
Less than a year ago, in October, the South Korean National Intelligence Service told parliament that Kim’s security detail had expanded its efforts to protect him, including by using communication-jamming devices and drone detection equipment.
The spy agency did not cite a specific threat against Kim – but noted that despite threats to his safety, he has been making more frequent public appearances.
In his own country, his appearances are normally carefully managed, with any foreigners present forced to go through hours-long security checks beforehand.
The exact security operation around Kim’s trip to Beijing remains veiled, but it is expected that he is flanked by security at all times.
Joined by Putin, he travelled from a formal reception to the negotiations in the same car, the Kremlin said in a post on social media.
After a bilateral meeting between Russian and North Korean delegations, the two leaders held a one-on-one meeting.
Putin also invited Kim to visit Russia again, following on from the North Korean leader’s last visit to the country in 2023.
Speaking in front of journalists as the talks began, Putin praised the bravery and heroism of North Korean soldiers who fought alongside his own troops to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region.
According to South Korean assessments, North Korea has sent around 15,000 troops to Russia since last year.
It has also sent large quantities of military equipment, including ballistic missiles and artillery, to help fuel Putin’s three-year invasion of Ukraine.
In his opening remarks, Kim said that cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow has ‘significantly strengthened’ since the two countries signed a strategic partnership pact in June last year during a summit in the North Korean capital.
Although he did not specifically mention the war, Kim stressed that ‘if there is anything I can do for you and the people of Russia, if there is more that needs to be done, I will consider it as a fraternal duty, an obligation that we surely need to bear, and will be prepared to do everything possible to help.’
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