North Korea ready to resume six-party talks without conditions
On November 20, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said North Korea is ready to resume six-party talks on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula without preconditions.
Speaking to reporters after meeting with Mr. Choe Ryong Hae, who is visiting Russia as a special envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Foreign Minister Lavrov stated that the Russian side "has received assurances that Pyongyang is ready to resume the six-party talks without preconditions, on the basis of the joint statement adopted by the negotiating parties in September 2005."
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| Special envoy of North Korean leader Choe Ryong Hae with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. (Source: AP) |
According to Foreign Minister Lavrov, Mr. Choe conveyed to Russian President Vladimir Putin a message from Leader Kim Jong-un "affirming readiness to promote relations between North Korea and Russia as well as cooperate in resolving outstanding issues on the Korean Peninsula."
In addition, Mr. Lavrov emphasized that trade and economic relations between Russia and North Korea "are reaching a new level," saying that the two countries will continue to cooperate in the future and Moscow is ready to conduct contacts at all levels, including summit level, within the framework agreed by the two countries.
Foreign Minister Lavrov also stressed that recent media reports regarding the operation of North Korea's nuclear reactor at Yongbyon need to be verified, and said that the working group on security issues on the Korean Peninsula needs to resume so that all parties concerned can have clear discussions.
Russia-North Korea relations, especially economic and trade relations, have seen many changes in recent months. Russia has forgiven North Korea's old debt and plans to increase two-way trade to $1 billion by 2020.
A group of Russian investors is currently implementing a $25 billion project to modernize North Korea's railways in exchange for access to the country's mineral deposits. Russia and North Korea have also begun making bilateral payments in rubles./.
According to VNA
