The foreign minister welcomed the ambassador over his work in the DPRK.

He said that under the leadership of Marshal Kim Jong Un the army and people of the DPRK are turning out as one in the drive to carry out the five-year strategic goal for national economic development set forth at the Seventh Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea.

He referred to the situation on the Korean peninsula worsening due to the U.S. ceaseless nuclear threat and sanctions and the justification of the DPRK's bolstering of nuclear deterrence reacting to them.

The ambassador said the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries are deeply rooted, special and inviolable relations, adding the two countries are proactively cooperating with each other in the international arena on the principle of mutual respect and non-interference of internal affairs.

The Egyptian government is attaching great importance to the relations with the DPRK, he said, stressing that during his tenure of office he would make active efforts to strengthen the bilateral relations in the political, economic, cultural and all other fields.