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North Korea’s delegation leaves IPU session before South Korean delegate takes floor

The North Korean delegates were present during most of speeches

ST. PETERSBURG, October 15. /TASS/. North Korea’s delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly had left the conference hall before South Korea’s delegation head took the floor.

The North Korean delegates were present during most of speeches. But shortly before Chung Sye-kyun, speaker of South Korea’s National Assembly, was to take the floor, a TASS correspondent saw the North Korean delegation leaving the conference hall and going outside the building. The delegates returned only after the break.

A lawmaker present at the session told TASS it had obviously been done intentionally. "Naturally, each country has its own protocol for such occasions," he said.

Taking the floor, Chung Sye-kyun called on North Korea to return to the negotiating table to resolve the conflict the soonest possible. He said he hopes the "Inter-Parliamentary Union may help resolve this problem."

Meanwhile, Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the international committee of Russia’s Federation Council upper parliament house, told TASS earlier that Federation Council speaker Valentina Matvoyenko is scheduled to meet with North and South Koreas’ delegations on the sidelines of the Inter-Parliamentary Union assembly on October 16 to call on Seoul and Pyongyang to hold a direct dialogue.