PYONGYANG, October 19. /TASS/. Following the September meeting between the Russian and North Korean leaders, relations between the two countries have ascended to a qualitatively new, strategic level, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

"After the landmark summit between President [of Russia Vladimir] Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Vostochny spaceport on September 13, we can say confidently that these relations have reached a qualitatively new, strategic level," Lavrov, who is visiting North Korea, said at the beginning of talks with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui.

The Russian minister recalled that 75 years ago the former Soviet Union was the first to recognize the young Korean state after its liberation from Japan’s colonial domination and after that helped North Korea develop its national economy, science, culture, and education. "We will always remember the priceless contribution to the development of our relations that was made my Comrade Kim Il Jung and later by Comrade Kim Jong Il," Lavrov stressed.

The top North Korean diplomat, in turn, noted that "frequent meetings between the two countries’ foreign ministers, which help strengthen friendly ties, serve as a proof that North Korean-Russian bilateral relations, which have a long history of friendship, are demonstrating development dynamic, developing vigorously."

She added that her talks with her visiting Russian counterpart "will become an important stage in terms of the implementation of the agreements" reached by Kim and Putin in September.