North Korea houses U.S. technology in state exhibit

SEOUL, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has received a Lenovo ThinkPad and an Apple iPad as gifts from Chinese officials and the two items are on display at a state exhibition hall, according to a South Korean report filed from Pyongyang.

The technology was part of a larger collection of presents from visiting dignitaries to the ruling Kims that are housed at the Myohyangsan International Friendship Exhibition, Yonhap reported on Wednesday.

During a tour of the collection, a North Korean guide told a Yonhap reporter and other visitors the state has been presented with around 10,000 gifts from foreign representatives.

The North Korean tour was part of an itinerary for visitors attending the second annual U15, or under-15 football league international football tournament in the reclusive country.

The exhibition hall was divided into dozens of rooms and the areas that stored the collection of gifts for North Korean founder Kim Il Sung and his successor Kim Jong Il included a silver-plated AK-47 from Angola and an ivory carving of Mangyongdae, Kim Il Sung's officially designated birthplace.

The collection only featured one room for the current leader and the relatively empty space included an exhibit of a ThinkPad T410 laptop from Lenovo, a regular, Lenovo desktop PC and a first-generation Apple iPad.

All three items were listed as gifts from China that were presented to the North Korean leadership between 2010 and 2011.

Kim's enthusiasm for basketball also could be seen in the prominent display of retired basketball player Dennis Rodman's uniform and three autographed basketballs from Rodman's 2013 visit. Yonhap reported there were more basketball paraphernalia on display at a Pyongyang horse-riding stable that drew curious stares from visitors.

Kim ended weeks of tensions early Tuesday after North and South Korea reached a deal that satisfied Pyongyang's demands regarding the South's propaganda loudspeakers and met Seoul's requirement of an apology regarding land mine explosions in the DMZ.

South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported the quick escalation of tensions and North Korea's sudden agreement to hold high-level talks reflected Kim's lack of expertise in negotiations.

Kim showed similar reactions to Seoul's demands in 2013, when South Korea threatened to pull out of a joint industrial complex in Kaesong, North Korea, which prompted Kim to request high-level talks.