PYONGYANG, July 28. /TASS/. Russia is giving a lion cub to the Pyongyang Zoo, said Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Alexander Kozlov, who co-chairs the Russia-North Korea intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation.
Kozlov handed the relevant document to Yun Jong Ho, North Korea’s minister for external economic affairs and co-chair of the bilateral commission.
"The last time we brought you a gift from Comrade Putin; there were many animals, almost 70. And this little lion cub that will now live here is a gift from the Russia-North Korea intergovernmental commission - our entire team - to commemorate an important event, the construction of a bridge (across the Tumannaya River on the border between Russia and North Korea - TASS)," Kozlov said.
According to the Russian Ministry of Natural Resource, the lion cub arrived in North Korea on the first direct flight from Moscow to Pyongyang together with Russia’s delegation.
Kozlov also brought a gift for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un - a figurine made of silver and agate that depicts hunters and a dog in a boat - and some private documents for him to read.
"We have come to know that Comrade Kim Jong Un respects his country’s tradition of hunting. In our country, we also have that, it’s an entire culture," Kozlov noted at a meeting with North Korean Prime Minister Pak Thae Song.
The first direct flight from Moscow to Pyongyang landed in the North Korean capital at 9:30 a.m. local time (12:30 a.m. GMT). The flight from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, performed by a Boeing 777-200ER seating 440 passengers, lasted about eight hours. A ceremony marking the start of construction on an automobile bridge across the Tumannaya River took place on April 30, 2025.