MOSCOW, May 25. RF discusses with North Korea the issue of the rotation of the composition of the Russian embassy in Pyongyang, expects that it will happen soon, Russian Ambassador to Pyongyang Alexander Matsegora said in an interview.
«We are discussing the issue of rotation with our Korean colleagues. I hope that we will be able to find mutual understanding. I believe that we will not have to wait too long,» the ambassador said.
The diplomat noted that the arrived employees will definitely have to go through quarantine on the Korean side of the border for one week, if there is no outbreak of the disease with a new strain that requires a longer «exposure».
According to him, Pyongyang is well aware of the need to rotate the personnel of the Russian embassy — the fourth year has passed since diplomats in the DPRK are in isolation without vacations, without the opportunity to see relatives and friends.
«»We have to live and work in conditions of acute commodity shortage, and we are talking not only about clothes and food (there are no problems with domestic products, by the way), but also about spare parts, consumables for equipment and machinery» Matsegora said.
At the same time, the ambassador added that in the coming days, another group of employees and family members would be sent to Russia, after which only a few people would remain in the embassy.
At the end of March of this year, the Financial Times newspaper reported that the DPRK was preparing to resume diplomatic activity after the country's isolation for three years due to the coronavirus pandemic. The publication wrote, citing sources, that Pyongyang will rotate its foreign envoys in the coming months after suspending almost all diplomatic travel in 2020 due to COVID-19.
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