Russian, DPRK foreign ministers to discuss situation on Korean Peninsula, trade-economic cooperation

MOSCOW, September 29. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his North Korean counterpart Lee Su-yong will discuss the situation on the Korean Peninsula and stepping up of trade and economic cooperation, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Monday in light of the upcoming visit to Russia by the North Korean foreign minister. “The ministers will discuss bilateral cooperation, including stepping up a political dialogue and trade and economic relations. They will exchange views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia as a whole,” Lukashevich said. Among key issues of the agenda of the talks, he named “foreign political interaction between Russia and the DPRK. It [interaction] is a very significant factor for maintaining peace and stability in Southeast Asia”. Lavrov and Lee Su-yong will discuss “international issues of vital importance, including the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East region, as well as the situation over Iran’s nuclear problem and the efforts aimed at forming a new security architecture in the Asia Pacific region”, Lukashevich said. They “will sum up the results of joint efforts for renovating the legal base of bilateral relations. The tasks have been determined for the soonest completion of the work on a series of joint documents in different fields - from cultural-humanitarian to technical and financial”, he said. The parties “will analyse practical aspects of bilateral relations, including in the economic sphere. They will discuss joint measures to form the model of Russian-Korean trade and economic cooperation that would make it possible to take a leap forward and bring trade turnover to the level of $1 billion in the foreseeable future”, Lukashevich said. Lavrov and Lee Su-young will sign a plan on inter-ministerial exchanges for 2015-2016 on the results of the talks. During the visit from September 30 to October 10, the North Korean foreign minister is expected to meet with Vice-Premier, Russian presidential plenipotentiary representative to the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev, Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov and Far East Development Minister Alexander Galushka. Lee Su-yong will also visit the Amur and Sakhalin regions, as well as Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories to confer with the leaders of regional administrations and legislative assemblies. Read related news