Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova (2nd row 2-L) and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (2nd row C) attend a performance in Pyongyang on Sunday. Lyubimova is visiting on the first anniversary of the signing of a North Korea-Russia comprehensive partnership treaty, state-run media reported Monday. Photo by KCNA/EPA-EFE
SEOUL. June 30 (UPI) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with visiting Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova in Pyongyang as the two countries continue to strengthen bilateral ties, the North’s state-run media reported Monday.
The meeting took place on Sunday at the headquarters of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea’s Central Committee and was also attended by Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexandr Matsegora, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.
Lyubimova led a ministry delegation to mark the first anniversary of the countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership treaty, under which North Korea has sent troops and weapons to Moscow to aid in its war against Ukraine.
Kim said that “extensive and profound exchanges and cooperation in all fields are further expanding and developing day by day” in the wake of the partnership, according to KCNA.
“It is important for the cultural sector to guide the relations between the two countries,” he said. “It is necessary to further expand the exchange and cooperation in the field of culture and art to know well about each other’s excellent cultural traditions and learn more.”
Lyubimova said her visit came at a time when the “solidity and invincibility of the DPRK-Russia friendship and solidarity are being more clearly proved,” KCNA reported.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.
“Cooperation between the two countries in the cultural field has reached the highest level in history,” she added.
The two discussed future plans for cultural exchanges and attended a concert by North Korean musicians and a visiting troupe of Russian performers, the KCNA report said.
Photos released by KCNA showed images of North Korean troops deployed to Russia used as a stage backdrop.
North Korea has sent some 14,000 troops to help Russia recapture lost territory in Kursk Province from Ukrainian forces, according to a recent report from the 11-country Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team. Pyongyang acknowledged sending the troops for the first time in April.
The cultural meeting came on the heels of a pair of visits by Russia’s Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu this month.
On June 18, Shoigu announced that North Korea would send 6,000 military workers and combat engineers to help rebuild the Kursk region.
North Korea is likely to send additional troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine in July or August, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers in a closed-door meeting on Thursday.