SEOUL, Dec 11 — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and other top officials visited the Russian embassy to offer condolences over the recent death of Moscow’s longtime envoy, state media said today.
The visits, which the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said occurred on Wednesday, highlight the deep ties between North Korea and Russia since Moscow launched the conflict in Ukraine.
Moscow announced on Monday that Russian ambassador Alexander Matsegora had died over the weekend at the age of 70.
Kim laid flowers at the embassy and observed a moment’s silence in memory of Matsegora, KCNA reported.
It separately reported that other senior leaders, including top military official Pak Jong Chon, had also visited the embassy.
Matsegora had been the ambassador since 2014, having previously served as advisor at the embassy and as deputy head of the Russian foreign ministry’s Asia department.
Under his tenure, relations between the neighbours warmed to levels unseen since the Soviet era. Last year, President Vladimir Putin visited Pyongyang for the first time in more than two decades.
Kim said at the embassy that it was “a deep sorrow and great loss...to lose the ambassador at a time when an important historic phase has been opened in the development of the relations between the two countries,” according to KCNA. – AFP
