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A brave joker has poked fun at Kim Jong Un, by slipping a suggestive soft toy arrangement into the background of a photo.

The North Korean dictator was photographed visiting an orphanage in Pyongyang, his first 'looking-at-things' photo-op since his mysterious ankle injury, when the prankster struck.

But the odd thing about the photo isn't the eerie emptiness of the shocking-pink bunk beds, nor the fact that Kim Jong Un decided it'd be appropriate to be photographed in a children's home openly smoking a cigarette.

It's that someone has apparently arranged a pair of soft animal toys - a grey wolf and a blue cat - to look like they're sharing a deeply personal moment directly over the Dear Leader's left shoulder.

The cat's clearly enjoying him or herself, too - giving us a cheeky wink.

(Image: Barcroft)

The winking, blue cat in question is Doraemon, a character from one of the best-selling Japanese manga series in history.

Given Kim Jong Un's past record and apparent lack of a sense of humour, it's unlikely he saw the funny side of the stunt.

In July, North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations filed a formal complaint in an attempt to block the release of forthcoming Seth Rogen movie, The Interview, which involves a comical plot to assassinate Kim.

The complaint read: "To allow the production and distribution of such a film on the assassination of an incumbent Head of a sovereign State should be regarded as the most undisguised sponsoring of terrorism, as well as an act of war."

Seth Rogan's film career has been a bit patchy, but to describe even his worst movie as an act of war would be a stretch.

Kim's also rumoured to have meted out exceptionally harsh and brutal punishments to those he disagrees with, who get in his way, or offend him.

An estimated 120,000 people are held in North Korea's brutal prison camps, and Kim reportedly ordered the execution of 50 members of his regime for infractions as minor as watching South Korean soap operas.

Of course, it's possible the soft toys ended up in that position entirely by accident - but we're not sure that excuse will wash with this particular joyless, brutal and violent despot.