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The two officials discussed topical aspects on the bilateral cooperation agenda, as well as approaches to resolving certain international issues.

The Prime Minister reaffirmed the decision by his country’s leadership to invite President Putin to visit the Republic of Korea.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Prime Minister, colleagues, allow me to welcome you to Vladivostok.

The Republic of Korea is an important and promising partner for Russia in the Asia-Pacific Region. We are satisfied with how our bilateral relations are developing, since we are seeing consistent advances in all spheres.

As usual, we pay serious attention to the development of trade and economic ties. Last year, trade increased by more than 27 percent, and added another eight percent this year.

The Intergovernmental Commission is working effectively. We are in the process of coordinating a number of projects as part of the Nine Bridges Concept initiated by the President of South Korea.

The Republic of Korea has a track record of sending quite representative delegations to the Eastern Economic Forum. We are grateful for your attention to this platform. Allow me once again to cordially welcome you to Russia.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea Lee Nak-yeon (retranslated): I would like to begin by thanking you for the warm welcome extended to our delegation.

Allow me to take this opportunity to convey best wishes to you on behalf of our President Moon Jae-in. In fact, he was eager to come here himself, but you will understand that preparations for a very important meeting between the two Koreas are currently underway on the Korean Peninsula, which prevented him from coming here.

Vladimir Putin: Please convey my best wishes to him.

Lee Nak-yeon: I was instructed by my President to once again invite you to visit Korea, the sooner the better. He is looking forward to seeing you.

The Korean Government, led by President Moon Jae-in and myself, has always been grateful for Russia’s proactive support of our efforts to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula and promote its denuclearisation. Apart from this, Russia has always been committed to developing bilateral relations.

By the same token, we have an unwavering commitment to honouring all the agreements that were reached during President Moon Jae-in’s visit to Russia in June 2018.

We will continue working together with our Russian colleagues in order to deliver on all the tasks that were set during the 3^rd Eastern Economic Forum, as part of the so-called Nine Bridges cooperation concept proposed by President Moon Jae-in.

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