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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President,

I am very glad to see you again.

Neighbourly relations between Russia and the Republic of Korea, which we consider to be one of our key partners in Asia, are developing properly. Next year we will mark 30 years of diplomatic relations between our countries.

Trade is growing, last year by 29 percent and in the first months of this year by another 39 percent. One hundred and fifty South Korean companies work in Russia, and current investment totals $2.7 billion.

Mr President, we could discuss both these issues and certainly those that are of mutual interest. I mean the developments in the region as a whole and on the Korean Peninsula, especially because, as you know, I recently met with the leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. I would like to share my impressions of that meeting with you and discuss the situation in general.

President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in (retranslated): I am very glad to see you again after our meeting in Singapore in November last year. This is our fifth meeting. The more often we meet, the better our relations become, and I am happy about this.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your letter of condolences to the families of those who died or were injured in the tragic boat wreck in Hungary. I would also like to express my deep condolences over the sudden death of Vadim Kabayev, an experienced diplomat and counsellor of the Russian Embassy in the Republic of Korea.

I would like to note that our bilateral relations are making steady progress in various fields. I am especially satisfied that our high-level contacts have increased. I would like to mention that Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Nikolai Patrushev visited Korea in April and South Korea’s National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang visited Russia in May. Recently, this month Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha was in Russia.

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