Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan yesterday wound up a rare visit to North Korea, part of a three-nation diplomatic tour that also includes a visit to South Korea.
Balakrishnan arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday for a meeting with Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui. According to the North Korean news agency KCNA, the two leaders discussed “strengthening bilateral ties” and “exchanged views on regional and global affairs,” in Reuters’ paraphrase.
Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was more forthright, stating that the meeting between Balakrishnan and Choe included “wide-ranging candid discussions on regional and international issues, as well as developments on the Korean Peninsula.”
Balakrishnan also “encouraged the DPRK to engage constructively with the region and keep channels open for dialogue,” the Ministry said in a statement.
During the visit, Balakrishnan’s first since 2018, the Singaporean envoy also met with Jo Yong Won, the chairman of the Standing Committee of North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly, who gave him an update on political developments in the DPRK.
