Senior DPRK official visits Cuba to strengthen ties

HAVANA -- Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), on Thursday began a two-day visit to Cuba as part of a Latin American tour to strengthen political and cooperative ties with different nations.

According to a statement by the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kim would be received by the island's first vice president, Salvador Valdes, and other officials.

His visit, said the brief statement, is part of the "fluid and intense" bilateral exchanges due to the friendly and historical relations between the socialist countries.

The visit to the Caribbean nation comes just weeks after Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel traveled to Pyongyang and met with DPRK top leader Kim Jong-un.

Kim Yong-nam is likely to meet Diaz-Canel and Raul Castro, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, during his stay in Havana.

Cuba is the second leg of his three-nation Latin American tour, as he previously visited Venezuela.

In Caracas he met with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and other senior officials while the two nations signed cooperation agreements for political consultations between the two governments and elimination of visas for diplomatic personnel.

On Friday night, Kim will travel to Mexico to attend the inauguration of Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Dec 1.