Askume, Sep 16 – North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui visited Russia to attend the 4th Eurasian Women’s Forum and the BRICS Women’s Forum in St Petersburg, the Russian Embassy in North Korea said on Monday.
“Russian Ambassador (Alexander Ivanovich) Matsegora saw off North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui at Pyongyang International Airport,” the embassy said in a post on its Vkontakte social network.
The embassy said the minister plans to speak and participate in discussions at the forum, which will be held from September 18 to 20.
Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia’s parliament, said in June that delegations from about 100 countries were expected to attend the forum.
“We will work to ensure that foreign representation reaches a record high in the history of the forum,” Matviyenko said in June, according to a transcript provided on the council’s website.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has attended previous sessions of the forum, but the Kremlin has not yet announced whether he will attend this year’s forum.
The warm ties reached new heights this year when Putin signed an agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that included mutual defense commitments during a visit to Pyongyang .
The United States and its allies have accused North Korea of helping Russia by providing weapons for the war in Ukraine in exchange for economic and other military aid. Moscow and Pyongyang deny this.
