South Korea and Russia discuss the denuclearization of North Korea.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry said on July 18 that South Korea and Russia plan to discuss measures to move toward denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.
According to expectations, Grigory Logvinov, Russia's deputy chief negotiator at the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula's nuclear program, will arrive in Seoul on July 18 to hold talks with South Korea's deputy chief negotiator, Lee Do Hoon, regarding North Korea's nuclear program.
Illustrative image. (Source: AFP/VNA)
The South Korean Foreign Ministry stated that the visit by the Russian diplomat was a catalyst for enhancing strategic information exchange and cooperation between the two countries in various fields.
According to Yonhap News Agency, representatives from South Korea and Russia will also discuss the visit to Russia earlier this month by North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, who is in charge of nuclear issues.
The six-party talks, involving North Korea, South Korea, the United States, China, Japan, and Russia, stalled in late 2008.
In another development, on the same day, in the port city of Ulsan, southeastern South Korea, Hyundai Heavy Shipyard, a subsidiary of Hyundai Heavy Industry Corporation, held a handover ceremony for the second destroyer, named Gyeonggi, with a displacement of 2,300 tons, to the South Korean Navy.
The handover ceremony was attended by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Commander of the Navy, and many other high-ranking South Korean officials.
The domestically produced destroyer is capable of carrying helicopters for maritime operations and is equipped with advanced radar systems, machine guns, submarine detection equipment, as well as anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles.
This ship has a maximum speed of 30 knots (55.6 km/h) and is capable of carrying 120 military personnel.
The South Korean Navy said that around 20 new destroyers will be built to replace its aging fleet of small combat patrol escort ships and to escort warships by 2020.
Previously, the first destroyer, named Incheon, was delivered in January of this year.
According to (VNA) - DT
