Briefly

DPRK

Top leader Kim meets visiting Russian FM

The top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea met on Saturday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during his visit to the country to take part in the second strategic dialogue between the foreign ministers of the two countries, the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Sunday. During the talks between Kim Jong-un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, and Lavrov, the two sides "widely exchanged the opinions of the leaderships of the two countries on a series of important matters for faithfully implementing the agreements made at the historic DPRK-Russia summit talks in June 2024", the report said.

UNITED STATES

State Department fires 1,350 workers

The State Department began firing more than 1,350 US-based employees on Friday as the administration of President Donald Trump presses ahead with an unprecedented overhaul of its diplomatic corps. The layoffs affect 1,107 civil servants and 246 foreign service officers based in the United States. The total reduction in the workforce will be nearly 3,000, including voluntary departures, according to the notice and a senior State Department official, out of the 18,000 employees based in the United States. A recent ruling by the Supreme Court cleared the way for the layoffs to start.

Xinhua - Agencies