Kim Jong-il invites Russia's Medvedev to North Korea

Kim Jong-il invites Russia's Medvedev to North Korea

2011-08-28 18:52:42 GMT+7 (ICT)

PYONGYANG (BNO NEWS) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has invited Russian president Dmitry Medvedev to visit his country at a 'convenient time' in the near future, and Medvedev accepted, North Korean state-run media reported on Sunday.

Kim extended the invitation during a recent visit to Russia which began on August 20 and ended on Thursday when he continued to make a surprise visit to China. The North Korean state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Medvedev had accepted the invitation "with pleasure," but gave no other details about when such a visit could take place.

As previously reported, KCNA said both leaders discussed a wide range of issues and share the view that six-party nuclear disarmament talks should be resumed "without any precondition" and at an early date to implement the joint statement signed on September 19, 2005 in which North Korea promised to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs.

Six-party nuclear disarmament talks have been stalled since late 2008 due to North Korea's anger over United Nations sanctions. It was followed by a nuclear test in North Korea's North Hamgyong province on May 25, 2009, as well as a series of test-firings of missiles.

"Manifested at the talks was the will of the governments of the two countries to reject high-handed and arbitrary practices in the international arena and establish a fair international order in order to actively contribute to the peace and security in the region and the rest of the world," KCNA reported.

Kim's visit to Russia was the first in nearly a decade, and KCNA described it as a "brilliant page" in the history of North Korean-Russian friendship. "It was a landmark event which provided an opportunity of a turn in developing the traditional [North Korea]-Russia friendship to a new higher stage," the report added.

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