Andrei Podyolyshev, new Russian ambassador to North Korea, appointed to Pyongyang

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kwon Soo-hyun = Russia's new ambassador to North Korea took office on the 26th.

The Russian Embassy in North Korea announced through its Telegram channel that the new ambassador, Andrei Leonidovich Podyolyshev (64), arrived in Pyongyang with his wife that day.

The embassy reported that they were greeted at the airport by North Korean Foreign Ministry officials and Russian embassy staff in North Korea.

According to Russia's official TASS news agency, Ambassador Podyolyshev said he plans to focus on raising the level of practical cooperation between North Korea and Russia.

“I think my task is to revitalize our practical cooperation in various fields, including the economy, culture, education, and sports, and to make full use of the enormous potential of cooperation between our two countries,” he said.

He also said that today's North Korea-Russia relationship has reached a very high level thanks to the contributions of Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un, and emphasized, "Furthermore, we must look to the future and break away from the framework of tasks solved yesterday and set more serious and multifaceted goals."

Immediately after arriving in Pyongyang, Ambassador Podjolyshev visited the Liberation Tower, a symbol of former Soviet troops, and the Overseas Military Operation Battle Merit Memorial Hall, a memorial hall commemorating North Korea's Russian troops, and laid a wreath.

He also placed wreaths at the reliefs of former ambassadors, including Andrei Karlov and Aleksandr Matsegora, installed at the Russian Embassy.

Ambassador Podjolyshev took office about 10 months after former Ambassador Matsegora, who served as ambassador to North Korea for over 10 years, passed away in December last year. The exact cause of former Ambassador Matsegora’s death is unknown.

Ambassador Podyolyshev, who was appointed as the new ambassador to North Korea last July, is a 'Korean associate' who entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after graduating from the Moscow State University of International Relations (MGIMO) in 1984 and worked at the Soviet Embassy in North Korea from 1984 to 1988 and the Soviet and Russian embassies in Korea from 1991 to 1996.

He speaks English and Korean, and served as the Russian Consulate General in San Francisco, the U.S. Consul General in Istanbul, and the Russian Ambassador to Nigeria.

Ambassador Podyolyshev's appointment took place on the 24th when Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko reiterated Chairman Kim Jong-un's invitation to visit Russia in an interview with the TASS news agency.

Deputy Minister Rudenko said that Chairman Kim was invited to visit Russia and that this was valid, adding, "Russia will always be happy to welcome the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The timing of the visit will be coordinated through diplomatic channels."