Pak Ui Chun, foreign minister of the DPRK on a visit to Russia at the invitation of its Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, had talks with his Russian counterpart and signed the 2011-2012 plan for exchange between the two foreign ministries in Moscow on December 13.

At the talks both sides estimated the fact that the two countries jointly commemorated in a significant manner the 10th anniversary of the DPRK-Russia joint declaration and the conclusion of the DPRK-Russia treaty this year and had an in-depth discussion on the matters of further developing the traditional DPRK-Russia relations of friendship and cooperation before reaching an agreement of views.

An open-hearted exchange of views was also made there on regional and international issues of mutual concern.

The Russian side gave a profound understanding of the DPRK's stand toward the grave situation recently prevailed on the Korean Peninsula and expressed deep apprehension over the facts that the Yonphyong Island incident occurred due to south Korea's provocation and the U.S. and south Korea have staged large-scale military exercises one after another, steadily aggravating the situation of the peninsula.

On the LWR construction and production of enriched uranium for fuel supply by the DPRK, the Russian side took notice of the DPRK's stand that nuclear activity for peaceful purposes is the independent right of each country.

Both sides agreed to make joint efforts to defend peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula through bilateral and multilateral talks, including the six-party talks, in keeping with the spirit of respect for sovereignty and the principle of simultaneous action stipulated in the September 19 Joint Statement.