Possibility of Russian lower house speaker's trip to North Korea will be studied - source

MOSCOW, June 23. /TASS/. A possibility of a trip by the speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, Sergey Naryshkin, to North Korea will be considered, a source in the State Duma told TASS on Tuesday. "There is an invitation [from the North Korean side]," the source said, adding that "the possibility of a trip will be studied." The source gave no details on the timeframe for the possible visit. Earlier on Tuesday, Naryshkin held a meeting with the chairman of North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly, Choe Thae-bok, in Moscow. Naryshkin said his counterpart's visit is "serious evidence" that North Korea’s leadership has a "firm intention" to develop relationship with Russia. He stressed that "the Russian leadership also adheres to the line towards good-neighborly relations, development of friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries." The State Duma speaker expressed hope that the current visit will become useful and interesting for North Korea’s representatives. "We consider our inter-parliamentary ties as part of interstate relations that we appreciate," he said, adding that Russia is interested in expanding inter-parliamentary cooperation both in a bilateral format and at various international parliamentary platforms. Read more