DPRK, Russia vow to boost ties during strategic dialogue

PYONGYANG -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Russia on Saturday reaffirmed their will to develop bilateral ties into "eternal strategic relations" and pledged to lend firm support to each other.

DPRK Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov made the pledge during the second strategic dialogue in the DPRK's eastern coastal city of Wonsan, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Sunday, citing a press statement issued a day earlier.

During their strategic dialogue, the two foreign ministers "discussed in depth the immediate practical issues arising in accelerating the dynamic development of the DPRK-Russia relations," said the statement.

The dialogue reaffirmed the firm will of the two sides to faithfully implement the spirit and overall articles of the treaty on comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries and thus turn the long-standing DPRK-Russia relations with tradition into the eternal strategic relations, it said.

Both sides reiterated the stand to further intensify the strategic communication and cooperation for defending the state sovereignty, territorial integrity and international justice while boosting mutual cooperation in the international arenas, it added.

"The Russian side ... expressed its firm support for the DPRK side in its just efforts for defending the state security and the sovereign right," the report quoted the statement text as saying.

The DPRK side expressed full sympathy and support for all the measures taken by the Russian government to remove the root cause of the Ukrainian conflict and defend its national sovereignty, security interests and territorial integrity, according to the statement.

Choe and Lavrov confirmed that "the judgments of the two sides on the present complicated international situation are unanimous" and they agreed to "coordinate the common stand while further heightening vigilance against the hostile forces' hegemony-oriented moves for aggression getting more undisguised worldwide and boosting strategic communication."

On Saturday, Kim Jong-un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK met with the visiting Russian top diplomat, who came at the invitation of the DPRK Foreign Ministry, the KCNA reported earlier.