Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov (fourth from left) holds a meeting with his Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha (third from right) at the foreign ministry in Moscow on Aug. 25. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
By Lee Hana
Foreign Affairs Minister Kang Kyung-wha met with her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Aug. 25 to discuss strengthening bilateral cooperation on North Korean issues.
The ministers held the talks ahead of the Eastern Economic Forum, set to take place from Sept. 6 to 7 in Vladivostok. Minister Kang requested that Russia help restrain North Korea’s provocations and that it continue to carry out sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council. The minister also explained her government’s initiatives for improving relations between North and South Korea.
Minister Lavrov stressed that Russia is strictly against Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program, and reiterated Russia’s commitment to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula by carrying out U.N. sanctions along with the international community.
Finally, the two top diplomats decided on the issues to bring to the Korea-Russia bilateral summit, to take place on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum. That discussion will focus on issues including broadened economic cooperation between the two nations, developing the Russian Far East, and the expansion of future engines of economic growth.
hlee10@korea.kr
