S.Korea circumspect on Kim Jong Un envoy’s Russia trip
November 17, 2014, 8:20 am

Photo provided by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Nov. 15, 2014 shows top leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un (front) meeting with the employees of the February 20 Factory of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) [Xinhua]

South Korea’s Ministry of Unification said Monday that North Korea has sent a special envoy to Moscow in a bid to diversify its diplomatic relations.

“Our government sees the dispatch of Choe Ryong Hae to Russia as a special envoy as being in an extended line with North Korea ( DPRK)’s attempt to diversify its external relations,” Unification Ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol told a press briefing in Seoul.

North Korea’s official KCNA news agency reported last week that top leader Kim Jong Un plans to send Choe, a member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, to Moscow, without elaborating on the purpose of his trip.

“North Korea (DPRK) seems to be pushing for aggressive diplomacy as the international community’s cooperation deepened against North Korea (DPRK) on issues such as the nuclear program and human rights,” said Lim.

He added that the specific purpose of Choe’s trip and the subsequent results remain to be seen.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has said said the North Korean envoy would visit Moscow on Monday, followed by a visit to the far eastern cities of Khabarovsk and Vladivostok before ending his trip on Nov. 24.

Choe had last year met Chinese President Xi Jinping as an official envoy of Kim Jong Un.

The six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program, involving China, North Korea, the USA, Russia, South Korea and Japan, had begun in 2003. In exchange for economic aid, Washington and Tokyo attempted to persuade Pyongyang to cease nuclear research and later liquidate its nuclear sites, which could allegedly be used for the creation of nuclear weaponry. The latest round of talks were held in 2007.

TBP and Agencies