Record of a Conversation with Cde. Ri Dong-yong, First Deputy DPRK Minister of Foreign Affairs

from the journal [handwritten entry SECRET Copy Nº 2

USSR Ambassador in a faded stamp:          5 February 1958

in the DPRK 1721-gs       Nº 119/dv

of A. M. PUZANOV 5 February 1958]

RECORD OF A CONVERSATION

with Cde. Ri Dong-yong, First Deputy

DPRK Minister of Foreign Affairs

5 February 1958

After an exchange of ratification instruments held in the USSR MFA First Deputy DPRK Minister of Foreign Affairs Cde. Ri Dong-yong asked whether I knew that eight Korean students of the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography had renounced DPRK citizenship and sent their passports to the DPRK Embassy in Moscow.

I replied that I had not known of this fact. I told him that I knew that one of the students of this institute, Ho Un [sic] had refused to return to the DPRK some time ago. This student, said Cde. Ri Dong-yong, often visits Ri Sang-jo and is being used by him to conduct work among some of the Korean students, who are being instilled with the idea of not returning to the DPRK.

Ri Dong-yong said that he and the Embassy are very concerned with such cases and would like to unofficially consult about how to act in this case. He said that the leading bodies of the DPRK had been informed of this but no response had yet been received.

Then Cde. Ri Dong-yong informed [me] they are preparing a note which will ask for the assistance of the Soviet side in returning these students to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

In addition Ri Dong-yong reported that they are very concerned that former DPRK Ambassador to the USSR Ri Sang-jo is still in Moscow and has the opportunity to conduct corrupting work among Korean students, of whom there are more than 300 in Moscow. He stressed that such incorrect actions by Ri Sang-jo especially find support among a certain unstable part of the students who have some complaints against their behavior or studies.

[signature]

(A. PUZANOV)

Distributed [to]:

1 - Cde. A. A. Gromyko

2 - Cde. N. T. Fedorenko

3 - the CPSU CC (Cde. Yu. V. Andropov)

4 - Cde. M. V. Zimyanin

5 - the Soviet Embassy in the DPRK

6- to the dv file

Nº 237-dv

5 February 1958