North Korea has published a photo book of gifts given to the late leader Kim Jong-il by foreign dignitaries, including a basketball signed by superstar Michael Jordan.
The ball was handed over to the deceased North Korean leader in 2000 by the then US Secretary of State, Madeleine K. Albright, who visited Pyongyang in October of that year, as indicated in the volume, recently cataloged on the North Korean editorial portal Foreign Languages. Publishing House.
The current North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, is a big fan of this sport, and especially the NBA, the Chicago Bulls and Jordan.
The book consists of 216 pages and goes through the so-called International Friendship Exhibition Pavilion, which houses gifts such as an embroidery given by Chinese President Jiang Zemin to Kim Jong-il when he traveled to China in 2000 or a silver tea set. delivered by President Vladimir Putin when he visited Russia a year later.
It also includes a gold lacquered screen that the current Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, gave to Kim when he visited the North Korean capital in 2008 as vice president of his country, among other objects.
“The photo album contains some of the more than 40,000 gifts given to Chairman Kim Jong-il by foreigners from 170 countries and international organizations,” the book describes, accompanying snapshots of some gifts with photographs of Kim Jong-il at the time of receipt or with their senders.
The International Friendship Exhibition Pavilion, located in North Pyongan province, was founded in August 1978 and collects gifts given to the country’s leaders, including the aforementioned Kim Jong-il, his father and founders of the country, Kim Il-sung, or the current leader of the territory, Kim Jong-un.
This particular photographic volume collects gifts given to Kim Jong-il during his tenure, from 1994 until his death in December 2011.
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