Kim has become a key ally to Putin since the Kremlin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. He has sent millions of artillery shells and missiles to Russian forces, and has now deployed up to 12,000 conscripts in Russia’s Kursk region.

Mr Kozlov said the animals from Russia were young enough to breed, adding: “The Pyongyang zoo needed this so much.”

Under the Kim dynasty, which has ruled North Korea since 1948, famine and shortages have ravaged the country.

In its 2004 guide to North Korea, Lonely Planet wrote that the capital’s zoo was a “depressing and uninspiring place, best avoided”. There have also been reports that some of the estimated 5,000 animals there are baited into fighting each other.

The zoo is home to Azalea, a chimpanzee known for smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, although North Korean officials insist that the animal “doesn’t inhale”.