North sends condolences over death of former Lao parliament president

North Korea has sent condolences over the death of a former leader of the Lao parliament, state media said on Wednesday.

The standing committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) sent the condolence message on Sunday over the death of Xaysomphone Phomvihane, the former president of Laos’s National Assembly, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

“The feats performed by Xaysomphone Phomvihane in contributing to the Lao people’s cause of building socialism and the development of the relations of friendship and cooperation between the two countries will always be remembered,” read the message, carried by the KCNA.

North Korean officials from the SPA standing committee, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of External Economic Relations and the DPRK-Laos Friendship Association visited the Lao Embassy in Pyongyang to pay their respects, the report said. DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith held talks in Pyongyang last October on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the founding of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party and agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

The two countries established diplomatic ties in June 1974 and have since maintained relations.

Yonhap