‘Prying each other’s fingers off the remote’ Tussle breaks out between Russian and North Korean leaders’ bodyguards over room temperature during Putin’s China trip

Bodyguards for Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un got into a scuffle over the air conditioning remote during a meeting between the two leaders in China earlier this week, according to Kommersant journalist Andrey Kolesnikov.

The conflict allegedly began when one of Kim’s bodyguards silently adjusted the room temperature to 23 degrees Celsius (73 degrees Fahrenheit). His Russian counterpart objected, insisting it be lowered to 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit).

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According to Kolesnikov, the dispute started as a verbal exchange, with Putin’s guard speaking in Russian. Although Kim’s bodyguard understood him, he refused to comply — prompting a physical altercation over the remote control.

“They spent some time prying each other’s fingers off the remote before one of them finally lost his cool and settled the matter with a single move,” Kolesnikov writes. “The Korean guy probably felt a bit of pain.”

One of the photos in Kolesnikov’s report is captioned “The heat was never turned up,” implying that the Russian guard won the dispute.

Kolesnikov also observed that the meeting venue had been hastily arranged — initially, there were only two chairs in the room, insufficient for delegation-level talks. Staff were seen swapping out Belarusian flags for North Korean ones in full view of the press.

The meeting between Putin and Kim took place on September 3 in China. During their talks, Putin emphasized the “allied relations” between the two countries and expressed gratitude for North Korean soldiers participating in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.