Premier Kim Tok Hun, who is also member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and vice-president of the DPRK State Affairs Commission, met with Alexandr Kozlov, minister of Natural Resources and Ecology and head of the government delegation of the Russian Federation who made a courtesy call on him, at the Mansudae Assembly Hall on November 20.

Present there were Yun Jong Ho, minister of External Economic Relations of the DPRK, Kim Jong Gyu, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, and Alexandr Matsegora, Russian ambassador to the DPRK.

The talk proceeded in a friendly atmosphere.

A protocol of the 11th meeting of the DPRK-Russia Inter-governmental Committee for Cooperation in Trade, Economy, Science and Technology was signed.

A signing ceremony took place at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang on November 20.

Present there were Yun Jong Ho, minister of External Economic Relations who is chairman of the DPRK side to the inter-governmental committee, officials concerned, members of the Russian government delegation led by Alexandr Kozlov, minister of Natural Resources and Ecology who is chairman of the Russian side to the inter-governmental committee, and Alexandr Matsegora, Russian ambassador to the DPRK.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, president of the Russian Federation, sent rare animals as gifts.

Alexandr Kozlov, minister of Natural Resources and Ecology who is heading the Russian government delegation on a visit to the DPRK, courteously conveyed the list of the gifts sent by Comrade Vladimir Putin to the Korean people through the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un to Kim Tok Hun, premier of the Cabinet of the DPRK, on November 20. 

An agreement on exchange and cooperation between the Pyongyang Municipal Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and the Moscow City Branch of the United Russia Party was signed in Moscow on November 19.

Present at the signing ceremony from the DPRK side were members of the delegation of the Pyongyang Municipal Committee of the WPK led by Secretary Ri Myong Chol and the DPRK ambassador to Russia and from the opposite side Pyotr Tolstoi, secretary of the Moscow City Branch of the URP, and members concerned.

Ri Myong Chol and Pyotr Tolstoi signed the agreement. 

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un sent a birthday spread to Rim Pyong Suk, a woman resident of neighborhood unit No. 14, Uipho-ri, Kaephung District, Kaesong, on her 100th birthday.

Officials of the Kaephung District Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and neighbours congratulated the centenarian and her family members on the auspicious event.

Rim worked hard for decades and has kept herself busy to be helpful to the country even after becoming a pensioner.

The Russian government delegation headed by Alexandr Kozlov, minister of Natural Resources and Ecology, left Pyongyang for home by air on November 20 after taking part in the 11th meeting of the DPRK-Russian Inter-governmental Committee for Cooperation in Trade, Economy, Science and Technology. 

Songga Senior Middle School in Kangdong County of Pyongyang has been renovated as a model school.

The school has a school building, a gymnasium, a hostel for teachers and is provided with all conditions and environment for putting education on a practical, comprehensive and modern basis at a high level.

An inaugural ceremony took place on the spot on November 20.

As the extinction of life gathers pace worldwide today, biodiversity loss and marked degeneration of ecosystem have created grave danger to the existence and development of humankind.

According to a report recently published by the World Natural Protection Fund, the number of the individuals of wild animals decreased by 73 percent in 50 years from 1970 to 2020. In its report issued in 2018 it had said that the number of wild animals declined by more than half in the period between 1970 and 2014, predicting that two-thirds of wild animals may disappear by 2020.

Tremendous are the consequences of rapid destruction of biodiversity.

The national short dance contest took place at the Pyongyang Grand Theatre on November 6.

Presented to the contest, the focus being on national dances, were dance pieces produced by central art troupes, including the Phibada Opera Troupe and the National Folk Art Troupe, and other art troupes from North Hwanghae Province, Nampho and all other provinces and cities.

Kang Ok Ju, an official of the Ministry of Culture, said that the contest was aimed at further developing national music and dance, adding that all participating troupes should sustain the national character and also reflect unique and original ideas in the five to eight minutes’ dance pieces.