President Vladimir Putin met with Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea and UN Secretary General-elect Ban Ki-moon(THE KREMLIN, MOSCOW)

November 1  13:50 Wednesday THE KREMLIN, MOSCOW. President Vladimir Putin met with Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea and UN Secretary General-elect Ban Ki-moon.

Opening the meeting, Mr Putin proposed discussing the situation on the Korean Peninsula, including the North Korean nuclear programme, and also the prospects for cooperation within the international organisation framework. The President thanked Mr Ban for Korea’s help in rescuing the crew of the Russian cargo vessel Sinegorye in the Far East.

반기문 차기 유엔 사무총장은 북한의 핵 포기를 촉구하면서 미국과 일본은 북한이 핵무기를 포기할 경우 북한과의 관계 정상화에 대비해야 할 것이라고 말했습니다.  

반기문 차기 사무총장은 블라디미르 푸틴 러시아 대통령과의 회견을 마친후 가진 기자회견에서 북한이 핵무기를 포기하는 대신 미국과 일본은 북한과의 관계 정상화를 대비하고 북한에게 안전보장과 경제원조를 제공해야 할 것이라고 말했습니다.

반 장관은 북한이 핵무기 포기, 국제 원자력기구IAEA사찰단의 재입국 허용, 5 메가와트 원자로를 포함한 모든 핵시설 동결 등의 조치를 취할 경우 미국과 일본은 이에 대한 대응으로 북한과의 국교정상화를 대비해야 한다고 말했습니다.

반 장관은 자신은 6자회담 재개로 북한이 핵 계획을 중단하기로 지난해 발표한 합의사항을 이행하기를 기대한다고 말했습니다.

 

 

 

Beginning of Meeting with Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea Ban Ki-moon
November 1, 2006 The Kremlin, Moscow Printer-Friendly Version
PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: Mr Minister, dear colleagues, Allow me to wish you a warm welcome. It is a great pleasure for us to receive you in Moscow in the double capacity of minister of your country, a country with which our relations have been developing well over recent years, and as Secretary General-elect of the United Nations. I would like to begin by saying that we are happy with the development of relations between Russia and the Republic of Korea. We know that you have made a considerable personal contribution to this development. Our bilateral trade is now approaching the $10-billion mark and we have regular political contacts.  I remember my visit to your country and the great amount of work that it achieved. I hope to meet with the President of South Korea very soon during the APEC summit in Vietnam. Mr Minister, I would like to thank our Korean colleagues for taking part in the rescue of our seamen in the Far East from the vessel ‘Sinegorye’. This is just the way good neighbours should act and you should have no doubt that if we are ever able to do anything for you in a similar situation, you can count on our help and support. We are following developments on the Korean Peninsula very attentively, including the situation with the North Korean nuclear programme. Finally, we have always worked fruitfully together within the UN framework and we supported the election of an Asian secretary general of the organisation right from the start. It will be my pleasure to exchange views with you on the prospects for our cooperation in the international organisation framework.  BAN KI-MOON (Translated from Russian): First of all, I would like to thank you for finding the time to meet with me despite your busy schedule, and I would also like to thank you for your personal message of congratulations. Russia supported an Asian candidate for the post of secretary general right from the outset. You also supported my election to the post of UN secretary general, and I would like once again to thank you for this. As UN secretary general, I will work closely with Russia on strengthening the UN secretariat and the organisation as a whole. The President of the Republic of Korea, Mr Roh Moo Hyun, considers relations and contacts between Russia and Korea to be of great importance. Our relations have been developing with particular success since your visit to Korea. Our President is happy with this and hopes that our relations will reach a new level of cooperation and partnership.