When South Korean President Moon Jae-en returned from Pyongyang last October, he brought with him two small dogs - Gumi and Songgang - a gift from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. As it turned out, Gomey was pregnant when she traveled to the south, and after the end of the week, the Mon office published pictures of the small puppies. The puppies were married after growing up to strengthen the most diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Animals have been used throughout history to win over enemies, to establish alliances, and sometimes to intimidate adversaries. In the late 1820s, for example, Egyptian ruler Mohamed Ali Pasha sent three giraffes to the court of European kings as a diplomatic maneuver. In the post-war era, animals often acted as diplomatic reinforcements and as signs of good faith.

Start with China

The modern period of animal diplomacy started by China, which sent the panda to its friends and competitors abroad in an attempt to improve relations and to provide more soft power. China first sent a Banda bear to the Soviet Union in the 1950s. After former US president Richard Nixon's visit to Beijing in 1972 to start diplomatic relations, the Chinese gave Americans two bears.

The Dabans Ling Ling and Hesing Hessing set up their new home at the Smithsonian National Park in Washington, where they lived for decades. They have not found any offspring, but they have become a magnet for visitors to the zoo, which is still home to a pandas sent by China to the United States, where the pandas live at the Washington Zoo.

China has taken the panda abroad in the past as a gesture of good will, often rewarding its allies with pandas or something like that, but later taking these animals as a tool of coercive diplomacy. By the way, Nixon gave a gift in return for President Mao Zedong as bulls caught.

In 2007, German Chancellor Angela Merkel traveled to Sochi for meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin. What Merkel did not expect was that Putin's dog, named Connie, would also attend the meeting. It is worth noting here that Merkel is afraid of dogs, and the pictures show that she is watching the bitch nervously, which the Russian president seemed to notice. "She's a friendly dog, and I'm sure she will not bother you," he said. Putin later apologized, saying he did not know that Merkel was afraid of dogs, which many observers in animal diplomacy consider to be somewhat questionable. Given his background in Soviet intelligence, he is likely to be well aware of Merkel's concerns.

Putin and the puppy

Despite his dry behavior, Putin's love for animals is well known. In 2017, Turkmenistan was keen to resume natural gas exports to Russia. Turkmen President Kurban Gully Berdymukhamedov met Putin in Sochi, where he gave the Russian leader a puppy from Central Asia . The dog's diplomatic influence remains unknown, but Russia plans to resume imports of natural gas from Turkmenistan next year. Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott may not have spent much time as prime minister, but during his two-year controversial tenure as an expert in animal diplomacy, Australia hosted the G20 summit in November 2014. That year, Abbott was able to create an exciting atmosphere on the first day of the summit, which was overshadowed by the crisis between Russia and Ukraine, where he appeared in a picture with former US President Barack Obama, carrying Deben (Koala).

"This is the largest orchid in the world," says Johnnie Arnett, director of the Cincinnati Zoo, in a newspaper in 1990, referring to a seven-meter lizard weighing 120 lbs. The orchid was one of two donated to the zoo after the former president, George W. Bush, received a gift from Indonesian President Suharto.

- The recent period of "animal diplomacy" began

China, which sent a panda to her friends

And its competitors abroad to try to improve

Relationships, and more soft power.