Why Kim Jong-un’s staff cleaned every object he touched after meeting Putin

A new video shows staff members of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un quickly rushing to clean his seat after his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing.

They were seen wiping every piece of furniture Kim had used and even taking away his glass.

This happened on Wednesday, soon after Kim and Putin met following a large military parade in Beijing, where Chinese President Xi Jinping displayed his country’s rising diplomatic influence.

So why did the staff clean everything Kim came into contact with?

Let’s take a look:

Why Kim’s staff wipes everything he touches

North Korean staff were seen cleaning every object touched by Kim Jong-un, apparently trying to remove all signs of his DNA.

In the video, which has now gone viral, two aides can be seen carefully polishing the backrest of the chair where Kim had sat and carrying away his drinking glass on a tray.

One staff member wiped the wooden arms of the chair and even the nearby table.

Russian journalist Alexander Yunashev wrote on his Telegram channel that the team worked to erase all traces of Kim’s presence.

He added, “They took away the glass from which he drank, wiped the upholstery of the chair and those parts of the furniture that the Korean leader touched.”

“The official part of the meeting ended, Putin and Kim left the office very satisfied and went to drink tea in a more relaxed atmosphere.”

The exact reason behind this intense cleaning is not known. Some believe it could be a precaution against Russia’s security agencies, while others point to concerns over China’s surveillance.

In 2023, similar reports said that Kim’s security staff disinfected the chair he used at a Russian spaceport during another meeting with Putin.

“The chair turned out to be the subject of the greatest concern of the North Korean side,” wrote Andrei Kolesnikov, a journalist from Russia’s Kommersant newspaper. “For [Kim’s bodyguards], it was a matter of life and death. Not of their leader’s, of course, but of their own.”

Kim Jong-un travelled with a private toilet?

According to Japanese and South Korean intelligence, the North Korean leader carried a private toilet to China, designed to protect his DNA and prevent any information about his health from leaking.

The secret lavatory was installed on his green armoured train, which took him to Beijing on Tuesday for the country’s largest military parade, marking 80 years since the end of World War II.

“The physical condition of the supreme leader has a major impact on the North Korean regime,” a South Korean intelligence official familiar with North Korean affairs told Nikkei Asia, a Japan-based news outlet.

“North Korea makes a particular effort to seal off anything related to that, such as hair and excrement.”

Kim Jong-un is not the only one

He is not alone in protecting his biological trail.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is also reported to go to great lengths to prevent DNA theft, with bodyguards said to collect his urine and faeces in sealed bags whenever he travels abroad, a practice in place since 2017.

The same measure was reportedly used during Putin’s meeting with Donald Trump in Alaska, when Russian security officers carried his waste back to Moscow in suitcases.

Reports claim the practice is intended to stop foreign agencies from gathering information about Putin’s health.

Kim’s visit was his first trip to China since the pandemic, where he met Putin, Jinping and more than two dozen world leaders gathered to mark Japan’s surrender in World War II.

Bound by a mutual defence pact signed in 2024, Moscow and Pyongyang are now closer than they have been in decades, standing together against Western sanctions.