PYONGYANG, October 14. /TASS/. The Russian embassy in Pyongyang is aware of the schemes that North Korean poachers use for illegal fishing in Russia’s waters off the Primorsky Region’s shore, Russian Ambassador to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Alexander Matsegora told TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman in an exclusive interview.
"It is the Korean side that has to act now — only it can prevent new attempts of unauthorized entry of North Korean-flagged vessels to Russia’s waters," Matsegora noted. "However, we are ready to join and closely work with the colleagues — we’ve got rather full information on the schemes used by the illegal fishing organizers."
That said, the Russian ambassador expects that "representatives for all relevant authorities of the two states will gather soon to find ways to solve this problem and coordinate joint events to settle it."
Alexander Matsegora stated that he personally met with "the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of North Korea top brass and also addressed the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office demanding that measures be taken and those behind the organization of illegal fishing activities be punished." "It [the situation with the poachers] should not overshadow bilateral relations," the Russian envoy concluded.
TASS’ first deputy director general was a member of the delegation of Russian media heads to Pyongyang last week and held negotiations on cooperation with North Korean colleagues. Apart from Mikhail Gusman, the delegation included Head of the Federal Agency on Press and Mass Communications Mikhail Seslavinsky, TASS Director General Sergei Mikhailov, Director General of Channel One Konstantin Ernst and TASS First Deputy Editor-in-Chief Marat Abulkhatin.
In Pyongyang, the Russian delegation met with President of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly Choe Ryong-hae and Vice Foreign Minister Im Chol Il, who is in charge of relations with Russia. Negotiations between TASS’ heads and the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) also took place, during which Sergei Mikhailov and General Director of the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) Kim Chan Gwang signed a new agreement on cooperation between the leading Russian and North Korean news agencies. Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora met with the Russian delegation in his residence ahead of their departure to Moscow to discuss the results of the visit.