Kang returned from a two-day trip to Russia, where she held talks with Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, on key bilateral issues, including the latest on North Korea's denuclearization. Ms. Kang said they shared their assessments on the process toward realizing a dialogue and the situation on the peninsula, adding that South Korea maintains a positive view regarding Moscow's role in the process.

Regarding the planned visit to North Korea by Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week, she said communications between Pyongyang and Beijing will eventually help to achieve the goal of denuclearization and building a lasting peace. She said South Korea and Russia agreed to work to revitalize the dialogue between North Korea and the US, and discussed what messages Seoul and Moscow can send to other countries on the occasion of a series of bilateral summits due around the G20 summit in Japan later this month.