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North Korean Special Envoy Prepares for Visit to Russia

© Sputnik / Iliya Pitalev / Go to the mediabankChoe Ryong-hae, North Korean special envoy, has left Pyongyang for Moscow for a eight-day trip.
Choe Ryong-hae, North Korean special envoy, has left Pyongyang for Moscow for a eight-day trip. - Sputnik International
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Choe Ryong-hae, North Korea's special envoy has begun his eight-day trip to Russia to hold talks aimed at improving bilateral relations. According to experts, Pyongyang is trying to break its diplomatic isolation, seeking political support amid growing pressure from the West over its nuclear program and human rights issues.

MOSCOW, November 17 (Sputnik), Ekaterina Blinova — Choe Ryong-hae, the DPRK's special envoy, has left Pyongyang for Moscow for a eight-day trip aimed at political and economic cooperation improvement amid growing pressure from the West over North Korea's human rights conditions.

"Choe is widely expected to meet with President Vladimir Putin during his stay in Moscow. The North Korean leader's dispatch of Choe, one of his closest aides, as his special envoy draws keen international attention, coming at a sensitive time for Pyongyang's diplomacy. This week, a UN committee plans to vote on a resolution against North Korea for its human rights conditions," Yonhap, South Korea's largest news agency, reported.

It should be noted that the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) announced the forthcoming visit of Choe Ryong-hae to Russia last week, on November 14.

"Choe Ryong Hae, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau and secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, will visit the Russian Federation soon as a special envoy of Kim Jong Un, first chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK," the statement read.

Simultaneously, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of the Russian Federation published a statement on its official site, shedding some light on Choe Ryong-hae's Russian tour agenda. According to the MFA's media source, the sides will discuss ways to improve the political dialogue between the countries and bolster trade and economic cooperation. North Korea's special envoy will also discuss with his Russian counterparts the current situation on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia as a whole. After the talks, Choe Ryong-hae is expected to visit Khabarovsk and Vladivostok.

"Our [South Korea's] government views the dispatch of Choe Ryong-hae to Russia as in line with (Pyongyang's) attempt to diversify its external relations," Lim Byeong-cheol, a Unification Ministry spokesperson said as cited by Yonhap. He added that the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) seems to be "pushing for aggressive diplomacy," as the West and the UN have strengthened their pressure on North Korea over its nuclear program and human rights issues.

South Korea's experts suggest that if Pyongyang's special envoy meets the Russian President, he will most likely discuss Kim Jong-un's summit with Vladimir Putin.

"If Choe Ryong-hae meets President Putin, key agenda items will likely include a visit by Kim Jong-un to Russia or a trip by Putin to North Korea as well as ways to cooperate in the UN against pressure from South Korea, the US and Japan over the human rights issue," Cheong Seong-chang, a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute, emphasized as quoted by Yonhap.

The South Korean media outlet underscores that Choe Ryong-hae, Kim's closest aide, is considered to be the second or the third most powerful political figure in North Korea.

Xinhua, China's state-run press agency, notes that the DPRK is trying to improve ties with Moscow "as part of efforts to break diplomatic isolation."
"Vice Marshal Hyon Yong Chol, Minister of the People's Armed Forces, met Putin in Moscow on November 8 and conveyed Kim Jong Un's greetings. DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong visited Russia on September 30," Xinhua points out.

The Chinese media source also stresses that North Korea and Russia has recently strengthened bilateral economic collaboration, citing the DPRK's railroad upgrading project, carried out by Russia's specialists in "exchange for access to the DPRK natural resources."

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