N. Korean vice FM meets Chinese, Cuban officials at int'l forums in Uganda
Kim Son-kyong, left, North Korea's vice foreign minister for international organizations, departs Pyongyang to attend the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Uganda, in this undated photo captured from the website of the North's official Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap
North Korea's vice foreign minister has held talks with senior officials from China and Cuba on the sidelines of international forums in Uganda, state media said Wednesday.
Kim Son-kyong, vice foreign minister for international organizations, met with Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong and Cuban First Vice President Salvador Antonio Valdes Mesa, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). It did not provide further details on their discussions.
Liu visited Pyongyang to attend a military parade marking the 75th founding anniversary of the North Korean regime on Sept. 9 last year, while Mesa traveled to the North Korean capital in 2018 to attend a military parade marking the 70th founding anniversary.
Kim was in Kampala, Uganda, earlier this month to attend the 19th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit and the 3rd South Summit.
The NAM is a forum of 120 countries not aligned with any major power bloc. North Korea's late founder Kim Il-sung actively took part in the nonaligned movement against imperialism in the late 20th century.
North Korea's participation in the meetings came as the country appeared to be stepping up its diplomacy with "independent, anti-imperialist" countries, with leader Kim Jong-un vowing to strengthen solidarity with such countries standing against the U.S. at a year-end party meeting.
The North Korean vice foreign minister also met with Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, president of Equatorial Guinea, the KCNA said.
During his trip to Uganda, the North Korean official also met with Sergei Aleinik, Belarus' foreign minister, to discuss ways to deepen bilateral cooperation, according to the European nation's foreign ministry. (Yonhap)