Kim Jong Un Receives Russian FM

Pyongyang, June 1 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Thursday received Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on a visit to the DPRK at the Paekhwawon State Guesthouse. Present there were Igor Morgulov, vice foreign minister of Russia, Alexandr Matsegora, Russian ambassador to the DPRK, Oleg Stepanov, director of the External Policy Planning Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Oleg Burmistrov, roving ambassador of the Russian Foreign Ministry, and Igor Sagitov, deputy director of the Asia 1 Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry. The respected Supreme Leader gladly met and exchanged warm greetings with the foreign minister and had a photo session with his party. He warmly welcomed the visit of Foreign Minister Lavrov and his party to the DPRK and had a friendly conversation with them. On the occasion Lavrov courteously conveyed the personal letter of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin to Kim Jong Un. Kim Jong Un expressed thanks to President Putin for his warm and fine personal letter and offered gratitude to him. Exchanged at the conversation were opinions and views of the top leaderships of the DPRK and Russia on the trend of the situation and prospect of the Korean peninsula and the region, the recent world focus. Also discussed were the issues of further expanding and developing the relations of political and economic cooperation between the two countries and closely cooperating with each other. Noting with high appreciation that the situation in the Korean peninsula and the region has entered a phase of stability thanks to the DPRK, which has taken practical steps while successfully steering the relations between the north and the south of Korea and between the DPRK and the U.S., Lavrov said that Russia fully supports the DPRK's determination and stand on the DPRK-U.S. summit high on the agenda and the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and wishes for good successes. Kim Jong Un said that the DPRK's will for denuclearization of the Korean peninsula still remains unchanged and consistent and fixed and he hoped that the DPRK-U.S. relations and the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula will be solved on a stage-by-stage basis by finding a solution to meet the interests of each other through a new method in a new era and under a new situation and the solution of the issues will progress through effective and constructive dialogue and negotiation. Agreed at the conversation was to invigorate high-level visits, activate exchange and cooperation in different fields and, especially, realize the meeting between the top leaders of the DPRK and Russia this year marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations so as to continue to develop the strategic and traditional relations between the two countries in the interests of both sides and in keeping with the requirement of a new era. Kim Jong Un expressed great satisfaction over the fact that his good conversation with Foreign Minister Lavrov confirmed the stand and intention of the Russian leadership and helped build the new political and strategic relations of mutual confidence. -0-