Kim Jong Un’s Staff Cleans After Meeting Putin in Beijing

BEIJING, China — After a recent meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korean staff members took meticulous steps to clean any traces of Kim’s presence. The unusual practice comes amid a public display of friendship between the two leaders, but highlights North Korea’s ongoing efforts to safeguard information about Kim’s health.

A video shared by Kremlin reporter Alexander Yunashev on Telegram shows two North Korean aides rigorously cleaning the meeting room where Kim and Putin discussed various topics for over two hours. The aides scrubbed the backrest and armrests of Kim’s chair and removed his drinking glass.

“After the negotiations were over, the staff accompanying the head of the DPRK carefully destroyed all traces of Kim’s presence,” Yunashev reported.

Following their talks, the two leaders left for a more casual tea meeting. Reports indicate that Kim traveled to Beijing with a portable toilet on his signature green train, a tactic used to prevent any clues about his physical health from being captured by foreign spies.

Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership expert at the Stimson Center, explained that such security measures were established during the late Kim Jong Il‘s era. “The special toilet and requisite garbage bags are so that a foreign intelligence agency, even a friendly one, does not acquire a sample to test,” Madden said. “This can include insights into medical conditions affecting Kim Jong Un.”

This heightened privacy around Kim’s health is not new. In 2019, during a summit in Hanoi with former U.S. President Donald Trump, Kim’s guards spent hours blocking and cleaning his hotel room afterward, ensuring that no personal effects were left behind.

On a similar note, during a 2018 meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Kim’s security team sanitized furniture before he arrived. Most recently, before a summit with Putin earlier this year, aides were seen cleaning Kim’s chair with disinfectant and using a metal detector to scan it.

The latest interaction between the two leaders also included discussions regarding military support, with estimates suggesting North Korea may provide Russia with thousands of troops as well as arms amidst its ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Following their meeting, Putin asserted that aiding Russia was part of North Korea’s ‘fraternal duty.’