After North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing, his staff carefully cleaned everything he touched.
The meeting lasted two hours and was held during China’s Victory Day parade. After it ended, the staff wiped down Kim’s chair, armrests, coffee table, and took away his drinking glass. Kremlin reporter Alexander Yunashev shared a video on Telegram that showed these cleaning efforts. He said the team “removed all traces of Kim’s presence.”
Experts say this is part of strict security rules to stop spying by foreign agencies, especially about Kim’s health. Michael Madden, a North Korea expert from the Stimson Centre, explained that cleaning things like hair or skin stops spying groups from studying them for medical clues. This custom started with Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, and continues as standard practice.
The staff accompanying the North Korean leader meticulously erased all traces of Kim's presence.
They took the glass he drank from, wiped down the chair's upholstery, and cleaned the parts of the furniture the Korean leader had touched. pic.twitter.com/JOXVxg04Ym
— Russian Market (@runews) September 3, 2025In 2019, after a Hanoi meeting with then-U.S. President Donald Trump, Kim’s team spent hours cleaning his hotel room and even removed a mattress. Before a 2018 meeting with South Korea’s Moon Jae-in, guards sprayed and wiped a chair and desk. In 2023, before another summit with Putin, they used a metal detector to check Kim’s seat.
Kim Jong Un Pledges Support for Russia’s War at Beijing Summit
The Beijing meeting strengthened ties between North Korea and Russia. Afterwards, Kim and Putin shared tea and said a warm goodbye. Even though they showed friendship, North Korea’s heavy security shows it remains secretive, even with its allies.
Kim’s cleaning rules show North Korea wants to protect its leader’s privacy and health information. These actions reflect the country’s careful approach to dealing with the world
