A pair of North Korean hunting dogs are the latest symbol of a dramatic thaw on the Korean peninsula. The canines brought their own food supplies to help them adapt to their new life in a presidential palace.
Pungsan female Gomi Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/South Korea Presidential Blue House
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has given South Korean President Moon Jae-in a pair of white North Korean Pungsan dogs, the latest sign of improving ties between the two countries.
The canines, both about a year old, passed through the demilitarized zone (DMZ) and the village of Panmunjom into South Korea on Thursday, the South Korean presidential Blue House said in a statement on Sunday. They carried three kilograms of dog food to "help with their adaptation," it added.
The dogs, one male and one female, are named Songgang and Gomi. They will share the presidential palace with South Korea's First Dog, Tori, who became the first shelter dog to live at the presidential compound. Moon, a known animal lover, adopted the black mixed-breed dog in July last year.
One of the Pungsan dogs is a male named Songgang.Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/South Korea Presidential Blue House
Paws for peace
Kim proposed the idea of the gifts during Moon's visit to Pyongyang earlier this month, the statement said. The meeting in the North Korean capital, during which Kim agreed to shutter a missile-testing site and visit Seoul, was the third meeting between the two leaders this year.
Pungsan dogs, named after a North Korean county, are known for their loyalty and hunting skills. The breed is designated as a North Korean "natural heritage" animal.
It is not the first time a North Korean leader has sent a pair of Pungsan dogs to a South Korean leader.
In 2000, the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, father of Kim Jong Un, sent two Pungsan dogs to then-South Korean president Kim Dae-jung after a landmark summit in Pyongyang.
The dogs died of natural causes in 2013 after giving birth to 21 puppies.
North Korea's 70th anniversary military parade highlighted the communist nation's economic development instead of nuclear accomplishments; a shift analysts say is aimed at allaying the West's concerns.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/E. Jones
No ballistic missile show-off
Every year on September 9, North Korea celebrates its birthday by holding a military parade in the capital, Pyongyang. Unlike previous years, this year the regime chose to refrain from showing off its long-range missiles and instead exhibited projects that highlighted the country's economic achievements.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/E. Jones
North Korea turns 70
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as the North is officially known, was proclaimed on September 9, 1948, three years after the former Soviet Union and the United State divided the peninsula between them in the closing days of World War II. The peninsula has remained split since the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/K. Cheung
A different sight
On Sunday, thousands of North Korean troops, followed by artillery and military tanks, paraded through Pyongyang, but the celebration lacked the usual jingoism that has been associated with the isolated regime for decades. Immediately after the parade, thousands of citizens rallied through Kim Il Sung Square, displaying economic themes and calls for Korean reunification.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/E. Jones
Flowers, not missiles
Civilian groups carried flags and flowers in a bid to demonstrate a softer image of the country. "It looks like the North Koreans really tried to tone down the military nature of this," Chad O'Carroll, managing director of Korea Risk Group, told the Agence France-Presse news agency. Any display of intercontinental ballistic missiles would cast doubt on its commitment to denuclearization, he added.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/E. Jones
No Kim address
North Koran leader Kim Jong Un was present at the parade but did not address the assembled crowd. He showed off his country's friendship with China by raising the hand of President Xi Jinping's envoy as they saluted the crowd together afterwards.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/Kyodo News/M. Iwasaki
Stalled peace process
In a historic meeting with US President Donald Trump in June, Kim pledged to work toward denuclearizing the Korean peninsula. But Kim's efforts to ease tensions with the US have stalled since the Singapore meeting. While Washington insists Pyongyang commits to denuclearization first, the Kim regime wants the removal of sanctions and a peace agreement with the South to end the Korean War.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/N. H. Guan
Positive moves
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who will meet Kim for a summit in Pyongyang on September 18, will try to persuade the North Korean leader to take concrete steps toward denuclearization. On September 5, Kim said he wanted to denuclearize during US President Donald Trump's first term, to which Trump replied on Twitter: "We will get it done together."
