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| Russian President Vladimir Putin, second left, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, left, greet North Korea's delegation prior to their talks in Vladivostok, Russia, April 25, 2019. AP-Yonhap |
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed strong confidence Wednesday that the agreements he reached with Russian President Vladimir Putin in April will bear "rich fruit," and further advance their strategic and traditional relations, Pyongyang's state media reported.
In a message of greeting sent to Putin on the occasion of Russia's national day, Kim also said that it is the two countries' "common responsibility" to "put the precious centuries-old tradition of friendship on a higher stage," according to the Korean Central News Agency.
"It is our common responsibility before the times and history to put the precious centuries-old tradition of friendship on a higher stage," Kim was quoted as saying.
"I express firm belief that the common understanding and agreements made at our first significant meeting will bear rich fruits and, as a result, the strategic and traditional DPRK-Russia relations of friendship provided by the preceding leaders will further develop," he added.
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| A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin talk during a grand banquet after Russian-North Korean talks at the Far Eastern Federal University campus on the Russky Island in Vladivostok, Russia, April 25. EPA-Yonhap |
DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Kim and Putin met in late April in the Russian border town of Vladivostok for their first-ever summit. They agreed to boost bilateral cooperation in various areas.
North Korea has been seeking to strengthen ties with its neighboring countries, including China and Russia, apparently in a bid to secure support amid stalled denuclearization talks with the United States.
In the message to Putin, Kim called the April summit a "significant and important occasion that made a sincere and good close relationship between ourselves and opened a new history" of the North Korea-Russia friendship. (Yonhap)
