North Korea envoy bids farewell

JAKARTA: Outgoing North Korea Ambassador to Indonesia Kim Pyong-hong paid a courtesy call to Minister of Defense Matori Abdul Djalil on Monday, resulting in an agreement to improve the ties between the two countries.

Kim also met Matori to bid farewell as he would soon complete his diplomatic service in Jakarta which began in September 1998.

Matori underlined the sound ties between Indonesia and North Korea in defense affairs.

The relationship between Jakarta and Pyongyang received a further boost when President Megawati Soekarnoputri visited North Korean leader Kim Jong-il last month.

Diplomatic ties between the two countries began in April 1964. While North Korea posted its defense attache in Jakarta, Indonesia assigned a defense envoy to Pyongyang, who also serves in Beijing. -- JP