MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s visit to Russia last year was very significant to up relations between the countries to a new level as well as to counter provocations on behalf of external forces, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said on Tuesday.

"The historic visit of Kim Jong-un, Chairman of State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, to Russia last September and the Korea-Russia summit were very important moments to raise the friendly relations between the countries to a new level, as well as to create a new milestone in the fight against military threats and provocations of the united imperialist forces," she said at her meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

North Korea’s top diplomat arrived in Moscow on January 14 at the invitation of her Russian counterpart Lavrov.

The Russian foreign minister paid an official visit to Pyongyang in October 2023. The visit was timed to mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and North Korea. Lavrov was received by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Kim Jong Un visited Russia on September 12-17, 2023. On September 13, he had talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Vostochny Spaceport. The North Korean leader also visited the Gagarin Aviation Plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, the Knevichi Airport, and the Marshal Shaposhnikov frigate.

He also attended the 'Sleeping Beauty' ballet in the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theater, visited the Far Eastern Federal University, the aquarium and a factory of the Arnika Group, which specializes in production of food and fodder materials and ingredients.