Yahoo – AFP,
September 30, 2018
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Two dogs, aged around one year old, were given as a gift to the South Korean President Moon Jae-in (AFP Photo/Handout) |
South Korean
President Moon Jae-in received a pair of North Korean indigenous hunting dogs
from Pyongyang, his office said Sunday, the latest token of the rapidly
blossoming friendship on the peninsula.
"Cheong
Wa Dae (the presidential office) was offered a pair of Pungsan dogs from the
North as a gift at the North-South summit and received them Thursday," the
South's presidential office said in a statement.
The
canines, both aged around one, were handed over via the truce village of
Panmunjom with three kilograms of dog food to "help with their
adaptation", it added.
Known for
its loyalty and cleverness, the Pungsan breed -- a hunting dog with thick,
creamy white coat, pointy ears and hazel eyes -- is one of the National
Treasures of North Korea.
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Relations
between North and South Korea have been improving after
three summits this year
(AFP Photo)
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The canine
gifts come after a September meeting between Moon and North Korea leader Kim
Jong Un in Pyongyang, at which Kim agreed plans to shutter a missile-testing
site and visit Seoul.
North and
South Korea also announced that they would jointly bid for the 2032 Olympics.
Former
South Korean President Kim Dae-jung had also received a pair of Pungsan pups
after his landmark summit in Pyongyang with then North Korean leader Kim Jong
Il in 2000.
The dogs
were kept at the Seoul Grand Park and both died of natural causes in 2013 after
giving birth to 21 puppies.
The newly
arrived pooches will reside at the presidential office with Moon -- an animal
lover who already owns a Pungsan dog named Maru, a former shelter cat called
Jjing-Jjing, and Tory, a black mutt he adopted after taking office.