Vladimir Putin appeared to scare North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui with a minute-long handshake in the Kremlin.
The dictator expressed gratitude to Kim Jong Un’s top envoy after he rescued the Russian leader by deploying 11,000 troops to fight Ukraine.
But she seemed confused and uncomfortable when Putin failed to release her hand as he expressed gratitude to the repressive state for military aid.
As the 60-year-old diplomat responded in Russian, he held her hand.
The handshake is not a widespread custom among everyday interactions within North Korean society.
Vladimir Putin scares North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui with a giant handshake in the Kremlin after his boss, Kim Jong Un, sent 11,000 troops to boost his failed attempt to dislodge Ukrainian forces from the region from Kursk.
The handshake is not a widespread custom in everyday interactions within North Korean society.
North Korean forces have been deployed to Russia’s Kursk region, where about 400 square miles are occupied by Ukrainian forces.
kyiv says it has already confronted North Korean fighters, but Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has made clear he is alarmed by the lack of Western military support to help him counter Pyongyang’s new troops fighting across six time zones from home.
He warned in his nightly television address: ‘As for North Korean troops in Russia, there are already 11,000 in the Kursk region.
“We see an increase in the number of North Koreans and we do not see an increase in the reaction of our (Western) partners.”
Choe Son Hui was not scheduled to meet with Putin during her visit to Russia, but the Kremlin dictator changed his schedule to see her.
She said: “From the beginning of the special military operation, the respected Comrade Chairman of State Affairs Kim Jong Un gave the order that we, without looking down on anyone, should invariably and powerfully support and provide assistance to the Russian military and the Russian people in their holy war.
“We have no doubt that under the wise leadership of the respected President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the Russian army and people will certainly achieve a great victory in their sacred struggle to protect the sovereign rights and security of their State.”
Andrii Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, revealed that the North Koreans wear Russian uniforms.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has made clear that he is alarmed by the lack of Western military support to help him counter Pyongyang’s new troops.
“The first ones have already been attacked,” he said.
‘I can’t talk about the losses yet, I don’t know, the information is being verified.
“But the fact that the first ones have already been sighted and there is bombing on these positions, that’s for sure.”
It comes after a Russian soldier revealed how North Korean troops sent to help Putin’s war effort shot dead their own comrades after firing in the wrong direction.
A video that appeared on social media showed the moment a Russian soldier captured by Ukrainian troops recalled his experience in the Kursk region with Putin’s new recruits.
The unnamed soldier and his unit were in a forest with 10 North Korean soldiers after being sent to dig trenches when they were caught in crossfire.
“During the assault, the Koreans started shooting at us,” he explained.
“We tried to explain to them where to aim, but I think they shot two of our people.”
“I decided it was better to surrender in this situation than to die by our own bullet,” the soldier said.
