SEOUL, Jan. 22 – South Korea’s presidential office said Thursday no decision has been made yet about whether President Park Geun-hye will visit Moscow in May for a key Russian anniversary.
Park’s schedules for May have not been fixed and she has competing schedules, presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook told reporters.
His comments came a day after Russia’s state-run Itar-Tass news agency reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has accepted an invitation to visit Moscow to attend a May 9 ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the former Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, citing Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“A positive signal has been given,” Itar-Tass quoted Lavrov as saying in a news conference in Moscow on Wednesday. “We have sent several dozen invitations. About 20 guests have already confirmed their presence, and we continue to receive responses from other countries.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has also invited Park for the annual celebration, a move that could set the stage for her possible meeting with Kim in case the North Korean leader visits Moscow.
Kim has not visited a foreign country since he inherited power upon the death of his father and long-time leader Kim Jong-il in 2011.
