New World Leader Wants to Meet Kim Jong Un

Bashar al-Assad says he wants to visit, Kim will 'realize the reunification of Korea without fail'
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 3, 2018 6:13 AM CDT
Next Up to Meet Kim Jong Un: Bashar al-Assad
In this Thursday, May 31, 2018, file photo. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov walk during a meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea.   (Valery Sharifulin/TASS News Agency Pool Photo via AP, Fie)

North Korea's state-run news agency reported Sunday that Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is interested in visiting North Korea and meeting leader Kim Jong Un. The KCNA report said Assad made the comments May 30 while receiving the credentials for the North Korean ambassador, reports the AP. "I am going to visit the DPRK and meet HE Kim Jong Un," Assad was quoted as saying, using the acronym for the North's official name. There was no indication that such a trip had been planned.

"The world welcomes the remarkable events in the Korean peninsula brought about recently by the outstanding political caliber and wise leadership of HE Kim Jong Un," Assad said, according to KCNA, via Reuters. "I am sure that he will achieve the final victory and realize the reunification of Korea without fail." Syria's government did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday. The report comes as international attention is focused on a summit between Kim and President Trump scheduled for June 12 in Singapore.

(More Kim Jong Un stories.)

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