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N. Korea, Russia discuss ways to deepen ties

May 12, 2015

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and North Korean Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly Kim Yong-nam shake hands at their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on May 9, 2015. (Yonhap file photo)

SEOUL, May 11 (Yonhap) — North Korea and Russia have discussed ways to boost bilateral relations, the North’s state media said Monday, dispelling concerns over a possible feud after Kim Jong-un’s absence from Moscow’s war victory event.

Kim Yong-nam, president of Pyongyang’s rubber-stamp parliament, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin “at the Grand Kremlin Palace on Friday” while visiting the European nation to take part in the celebration marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The two “exchanged views on boosting the friendly relations between the DPRK and Russia, which are entering into a new higher stage, in various fields including politics, economy and culture,” the KCNA said in its English dispatch, monitored in Seoul. DPRK is the acronym of the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Kim also delivered “a personal letter” and “warm greetings” from Kim Jong-un to Putin who in return “expressed deep thanks,” according to the report, without further elaboration.

Amid mounting speculations over what caused Kim Jong-un to cancel his planned trip to Moscow, North Korean watchers have said the incident would sour their fledgling ties.

It would have been the North Korean leader’s first foreign trip since taking office in 2011 upon the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, with his predecessors having never chosen any other country but China as their first destination for a trip abroad.

Amid languid ties with Beijing, North Korea has been ramping up efforts to forge a closer relationship with Russia, with the two nations declaring 2015 as a year of friendship.