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The two leaders rode in the Russian-built Aurus limousine, the presidential state car of Russia. (Photo Credits: Twitter)
While Vladimir Putin gifted Aurus to Kim Jong Un, who gave his Russian counterpart a pair of Pungsan dogs.
Russian President Vladimir was in North Korea for a two-day visit starting on June 18. This was Putin’s first visit to North Korea in 24 years. During the highly publicised visit, both Vladimir Putin and the “supreme leader” of North Korea, Kim Jong Un were seen in a jovial mood as they took a ride in a Russian-built Aurus limousine, which is the presidential state car of Russia. With the Russian President behind the wheel, Kim Jong Un sat in the passenger seat. A video of the leaders “bonding” during the car ride has sparked a ton of memes about their “bromance”. It was reported that Vladimir Putin later gifted the Aurus to Kim Jong Un, who gifted his Russian counterpart a pair of Pungsan dogs.
Other than serious political commentary about the growing closeness of Russia and North Korea, many people have used Putin’s North Korean visit as fodder for memes. Both leaders are considered dictatorial due to their governing style. They rarely let their guard down in most media interactions or public events, therefore seeing them being cheerful was interesting for the world.
Many memes pointed to how Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un can impulsively trigger major geopolitical events without much consideration for other countries. The viral memes made references to possible nuclear attacks or World War 3, plotted by Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un during their car ride.
A section of memes showed the point of view of the USA at the growing friendship between its two main rival nations. Some people linked the joy ride scene of Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un with similar scenes from comics, anime, and films. Here are some of the best memes on Putin-Kim “bromance”:
People also equated the friendship between the two leaders, with other fictional characters with whom they “matched the energy”.
Even worse, you’re in the drive thru line at McDonald’s and the person says your meal was paid for by the car in front of you and asks if you’d like to pay it forward to the car behind you pic.twitter.com/2DojvkthIF— greg (@greg16676935420) June 20, 2024
This is not the first time that an interaction between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un inspired memes. In 2019, a manipulated clip that showed both leaders giving a toast to each other and then placing their drinks down without sipping went viral.
🇷🇺 🇰🇵 Russian President Putin to visit North Korea tomorrow to meet with Kim Jong Un.Scenes from North Korea. pic.twitter.com/Zu91q47T16
— Saanjana Rathore 🦋⃟🚩 (@saanjana918_R) June 17, 2024
The video implied that Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un did not sip the drink because they feared assimilation via poisoning. The clip poked fun at their insecurity and intricate security measures. This clip was cheekily titled “Trust Issues”. The full unedited video showed that both leaders sipped from their drinks after their toast.
