JAKARTA — Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Puan Maharani visited North Korea on Tuesday to deliver a personal invitation from President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to attend the Asian Games 2018 hosted by Indonesia.
Puan was received by Kim Yong-nam, the nominal head of state and president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, at the Mansundae Assembly Hall in the capital Pyongyang.
During the meeting, Indonesia welcomed the participation of joint North and South Korean teams at the Asian Games, which Puan said could strengthen friendship and further peace efforts on the Korean Peninsula, according to a statement from the Indonesian Embassy in Pyongyang.
She also said the visit aimed to strengthen Indonesia’s “long and historical relationship” with North Korea, forged decades ago by the two nations’ respective founding fathers, Sukarno and Kim Il-sung.
The daughter of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, who has continued to maintain the friendship with North Korea after her father Sukarno’s reign, Puan seized the opportunity to congratulate North Korea’s government and its people on the 70th anniversary of the nation’s founding, which falls on Sept. 9.
In his response, Kim Yong-nam reportedly conveyed his government’s appreciation to President Jokowi on the invitation and said he would soon present it to leader Kim Jong-un.
He said he also appreciated Indonesia’s ongoing support for peace efforts on the Korean Peninsula.
The Pyongyang visit follows the delivery of a similar invitation in Seoul last week by Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.