Moscow, Russia—The head of UPF for Eastern Europe was one of the invited guests at events organized by the North Korean Embassy to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice.
The program on July 27, 2023, commenced at Moscow's Red Square, adjacent to the Kremlin, where about 30 prominent figures from academia and NGOs laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as a tribute to the victims of the war.
A DPRK Embassy bus then brought the participants to the residence of North Korean Ambassador Shin Hong Chul, who warmly welcomed them and hosted a reception for leaders of the North Korean diaspora in Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.
Konstantin Krylov, the UPF secretary general for Eastern Europe, conveyed greetings to the ambassador on behalf of UPF. This meeting was the first public function since 2020 at the DPRK Embassy, which had been closed due to the continuing Covid lockdown in North Korea.
Following the meeting with Ambassador Shin, a conference took place at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dr. Alexander Vorontsov, the director of the institute’s Korea-Mongolia Department, presided over the conference.
Dr. Felix Kim, the president of the Russian North Korean diaspora association Bomminryon, served as the chairperson of the conference, which discussed parallels between the North Korean situation in the 1950s and the current situation in Russia. Notably, DPRK Ambassador Shin provided insights into the historical aspects of the Korean War as viewed from the North Korean side.