Joint celebrations next year as Russia, North Korea look to wartime victory and independence

TOKYO, November 25. /TASS/. Russia and North Korea are looking ahead to plan combined celebrations severally marking 70 years since victory in World War Two and independence from colonial rule, North Korea’s official news agency said on Tuesday, recording talks in Russia last week between Russian officials and a personal envoy from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and senior Korean Workers' Party official Choe Ryong Hae have pledged to organise large-scale joint commemorations and deeper exchanges next year, Korean Central News Agency said. North Korea will mark 70 years since its liberation from Japan's colonial rule. Russia will proclaim the 70th anniversary of World War Two victory. Korea's agency said President Vladimir Putin and envoy Choe Ryong Hae agreed to strengthen bilateral co-operation and to improve political, economic and military exchanges between the two countries in the coming year. The diplomat's visit took him to Moscow and the far eastern cities of Khabarovsk and Vladivostok. This was the third visit by a top-ranking North Korean official to Russia this year. In February, President of the Supreme People’s Assembly Presidium Kim Yong Nam visited Moscow. In October, North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong arrived while a Russian delegation led by Far East development minister Alexander Galushka visited the northern republic's capital, Pyongyang, that same month. Read more