MOSCOW, September 30. /ITAR-TASS/. New Foreign Minister of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Lee Su-yong is arriving in Moscow on Tuesday.
The previous visit of the DPRK’s foreign minister was four years earlier - in December, 2010.
Many experts point to the DPRK’s developing foreign policy - on September 28, Lee Su-young was the first foreign minister in 15 years, who participated in a general political discussion at the UN General Assembly.
Moscow says “our countries and people are connected by long-term firm friendly ties.”
“The USSR was the first country to recognise the DPRK in October, 1948. Russia has been supporting and developing friendly, neighbourly and mutually advantageous relations with North Korea,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. “Development of constructive bilateral cooperation in all direction is to the interests of the peoples of our countries.”
North Korean foreign ministry will be received by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. They will discuss bilateral cooperation, including development of the political dialogue and trade and economic cooperation, will exchange views on the situations in the Korean Peninsula and in North-Eastern Asia.
“Key items on the agenda include cooperation between Russia and the DPRK, which in foreign policy is a major factor in support of peace and stability in North-Eastern Asia,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. “The foreign minister will exchange views on current international problems, including the situations in Ukraine and in the Middle East, as well as the situation around the Iranian nuclear programme, on the efforts in formation of a new security structure in the Asia-Pacific region.”
Lavrov and Lee Su-yong will discuss “international issues of vital importance, including the situation in Ukraine and Middle East, as well as the situation around Iran’s nuclear problem and the efforts aimed at forming a new security architecture in the Asia Pacific," representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Lukashevich said.
They “will sum up the results of joint efforts for renovating the legal base of bilateral relations. The tasks have been determined for the soonest completion of the work on a series of joint documents in different fields - from cultural-humanitarian to technical and financial”, he said.
The parties “will analyse practical aspects of bilateral relations, including in the economic sphere. They will discuss joint measures to form the model of Russian-Korean trade and economic cooperation that would make it possible to take a leap forward and bring trade turnover to the level of $1 billion in the foreseeable future”, Lukashevich said.
“The nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula and prospects for resuming the six-party talks are a pressing issue that requires frank discussions,” Lukashevich said.
Russia “strictly observes the corresponding UN Security Council resolutions and demands that all participants in the Korean settlement process, including the DPRK, comply with the restrictions and bans under these resolutions”, he said.
Lavrov and Lee Su-young will sign a plan on inter-ministerial exchanges for 2015-2016 on the results of the talks.
Besides the meetings with Sergei Lavrov, Lee Su-young will also have meetings with Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister and presidential envoy to the Far East, Yuri Trutnev, with Minister of Agriculture Nikolai Fedorov and Minister on Development of the Far East Alexander Galushka.
After the meetings in Moscow, the DPRK’s foreign minister will visit the Amur and Sakhalin regions, as well as the Khabarovsk and Maritime territories, where he will have meeting with local legislators and authorities.
The visit will last through to October 10.