Sergei Lavrov resumes regular contacts with North Korea

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived on October 18 on a visit to the DPRK. He is scheduled to hold talks with North Korean Foreign Minister Choi Song Hui. Lavrov’s fourth visit to the DPRK will last until October 19. Previously, the minister visited North Korea in 2004, 2009 and 2018. Together with the minister, nine diplomats and technical staff arrived in the DPRK for personnel rotation at the embassy.

In September, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited Russia. He held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which lasted five hours. The leaders of the countries discussed economic and humanitarian issues, as well as the state of affairs in the region. Even earlier in July, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu attended the celebration of the end of the Korean War. On October 14, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby accused the DPRK of supplying “thousands of containers” of ammunition to Russia; Moscow rejected these accusations.

According to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, at the talks the ministers will discuss “a wide range of issues of bilateral relations and issues on the Korean Peninsula.” Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora assured that the parties are doing “everything necessary to quickly restart the mechanism of trade and economic relations.” Let us remind you that due to the current UN sanctions against the DPRK, economic interaction with it is extremely difficult. According to the Russian ambassador, enthusiasm for the resumption of trade is noticeable not only among the Russian authorities and entrepreneurs, but also among the North Korean side.

This visit should be considered as a resumption of dialogue between Russia and the DPRK after the pandemic, notes Ilya Dyachkov, associate professor of the Department of Oriental Studies at MGIMO. Due to the pandemic, cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang was literally at zero level, which is not normal for neighboring countries. The scope of work in relations between Russia and the DPRK is large, and ministerial visits are also necessary for progress, the expert explains. According to Dyachkov, from Lavrov’s visit one can expect a revival of humanitarian, educational and scientific cooperation – traditional areas of contact between Russia and North Korea in the past, which ceased to exist due to the closure of borders.