OSAKA /Japan/, June 28. /TASS/. The situation on the Korean Peninsula in the light of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was in focus of Putin’s meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty summit in Japan’s Osaka.
"We can discuss the situation in the region in general. The more so, as you know, I have recently met with the North Korean leader. I would like to share my impressions from that meeting with you and speak about the situation in general," Putin said at the beginning of the meeting.
According to the Russian president, relations between the two countries are developing dynamically, with trade being up by about 30% in 2018. About 150 South Korean companies are operating in Russia and South Korean investments in the Russian economy amount to 2.7 billion US dollars.
Moon Jae-in, in turn, noted that it is his fifth meeting with the Russian leader. "It is our fifth meeting and the more often we meet the better our relations are," he said. He thanked Putin for the condolences he had offered to Seoul over the death of 33 South Korean tourists in a pleasure boat accident in Hungary.
Moon Jae-in extended his condolences to the Russian president over the sudden death of Russian diplomat Vadim Kabayev, a counsellor of the Russian embassy to South Korea. Kabayev died in early June.