BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • BBC Trending

'All smiles' as Kim Jong-un and Sergey Lavrov meet

  • Published
    4 June 2018
Share page
About sharing
Screen shot of Kim Jong-un shaking hands with Sergey LavrovImage source, Russia-1 TV
Image caption,

The backdrop on Russia-1 prompted a debate about whether Kim Jong-un's face was altered

Sherie Ryder, BBC UGC and Social News
and BBC Monitoring's Yaroslava Kiryukhina and Francis Scarr

As Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov shook hands with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang on 31 May, the clicking of photographers vying to get the best shot was loud and clear.

The meeting, which was broadcast on North Korean TV and posted by the Russian Foreign Ministry on YouTube, external, showed the two shaking hands, in front of a huge painted seascape.

However, one still image, which featured on Russian TV station Rossiya-1, stands out from others because Mr Kim appears to be smiling - which is not picked up in similar shots of the pair facing the cameras, nor in the moving footage.

This has not gone unnoticed on Russian social media, with many users accusing the station of digitally adding a smile on Mr Kim's face.

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post by Илья Яшин

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post by Илья Яшин

Opposition figure Ilya Yashin pointed out the contrast in shots and implied there had been some doctoring, saying, "They're testing it on the gloomy North Korean dictator, but tomorrow they'll make us all happy. With a joyous smile, Russians will welcome news of price rises, utility rates hikes and subsidies to oligarchs".

However, the Rossiya-1 news host, Dmitry Kiselyov - once described by The Economist as Russia's "chief propagandist" - was adamant the image has not been doctored when asked on Govorit Moscow radio, external.

"Definitely not," he said. "They always take pictures with high-speed shutters. That's why facial expressions are different."

Other social media users say a smile was photoshopped "so that he did not make Kiselyov's joyful content gloomy":

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post 2 by Лентач

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post 2 by Лентач

One tweet praised the more smiley photo, external, saying "We all need Rossiya-1. Especially on Monday morning":

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post 3 by Артём Дерягин

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post 3 by Артём Дерягин

You might also like:

  • Arkady Babchenko: The plot twist that 'crossed the line'

  • Bulgarians tweeting in Cyrillic confused for Russian bots

  • Rolling out a welcome for Kim Jong-un

On Russia's popular social media network, VK.com, users have generated their own photoshopped version, external of the same image.

Taking the alleged doctoring one step further, another account tweeted a photoshopped image combing two Kims - Jong-un and Kardashian - the US reality TV star, saying: "We tried to make his face more official."

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post 4 by Гуго Карлович ™

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post 4 by Гуго Карлович ™

More on this story

  • North Korea crisis in 300 words

    • Published
      21 April 2020
    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un provides guidance on a nuclear weapons program in this undated photo released by North Korea"s Korean Central News Agency
  • How advanced is North Korea's nuclear programme?

    • Published
      10 August 2017
    This satellite image shows the Yongbyon Nuclear Centre, located north of Pyongyang, North Korea, 7 November 2004.
  • Trump-Kim teams meet to salvage summit

    • Published
      31 May 2018
    handout photograph from US Department of State shows Kim Yong-chol (L), vice chairman of North Korea, during his meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (C) on May 30, 2018 in New York

Around the BBC

  • The king of Pyongyang - BBC News

Top stories

  • Police make three arrests during Epping protest

    • Published
      1 hour ago
  • US court rules many of Trump's global tariffs are illegal

    • Published
      1 hour ago
  • Brothers set new record for 9,000-mile Pacific row

    • Published
      53 minutes ago

More to explore

  • Harry set for UK visit but will he see his father?

    A split image showing the faces of Prince Harry and King Charles. Both wear blue blazers and light shirts.
  • 'Inn-justice' for Epping and 'Rayner faces sleaze inquiry'

    The front pages of the Sun and the Daily Telegraph.
  • How coffee chains like Costa lost the matcha generation

    Two young women one with long brown hair and a grey hoodie and one with blonde hair in a slick back bun and a black leather bomber both holding green iced matcha drinks with straws on a street outside a Blank Street Coffee shop in London
  • Manhunt in Australian bush brings long-dismissed conspiracy theorists to the fore

    A man stands on a bus stop holding a sign saying "freedom" in bold capital letters. A line of police officers backs can be seen at the bottom of the picture, all in high vis tops. The street they are on is lined with trees which have lost their leaves
  • I asked a bus passenger to turn his phone down - he called me miserable

    A man in a white t-shirt and blue denim jacket sits on a bus next to the window and uses his phone. His face is out of the camera shot. Another passenger sat next to him also uses their phone.
  • What Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding could look like

    A screenshot taken from Instagram showing Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift hug each other
  • Meet the three-year-olds helping anxious teens spend more time in school

    A teenage girl and a toddler smiling and talking to each other
  • 'Gringos out!': Mexicans protest against tourists and gentrification

    A man shouts into a loudhailer on a recent anti-gentrification march in Mexico City
  • Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch's secrets to successful marriages

    Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch attend "The Roses" UK Premiere at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on August 28, 2025 in London, England.
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    'Inn-justice' for Epping and 'Rayner faces sleaze inquiry'

  2. 2

    US court rules many of Trump's global tariffs are illegal

  3. 3

    Brothers set new record for 9,000-mile Pacific row

  4. 4

    Harry set for UK visit but will he see his father?

  5. 5

    How coffee chains like Costa lost the matcha generation

  6. 6

    Police make three arrests during Epping protest

  7. 7

    BBC Proms performance interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters

  8. 8

    US blocks Palestinian leader from attending UN meeting in New York

  9. 9

    Barrier being built around besieged Sudan city, satellite images show

  10. 10

    'Our baby was robbed of dignity after she died'

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Best of the BBC

  • Rolf Larsen investigates the case of a missing child

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    DNA
  • Comedian Bob Mortimer chooses his desert island tracks

    • Attribution
      Sounds
    Desert Island Discs: Bob Mortimer
  • Freddie Mercury: from iconic shots to private snaps

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    A Life in Ten Pictures: Freddie Mercury
  • When an Olympic badminton match caused controversy

    • Attribution
      Sounds
    Sporting Witness: Shuttlecock scandal
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.