Pyongyang’s top diplomat, Ri Su Yong, completed a two-week-journey to mostly southern African countries on Monday, the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said, though the purpose of the meetings there appear to be exaggerated.

The trip, which saw Ri’s foreign ministry delegation take in visits to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Angola and South Africa, sought to promote the North’s relations through bilateral talks with different officials, KCNA said.

But analysis of reports from regional African media outlets suggest that North Korean state media accounts of the various visits were exaggerated.

The way North Korean media described a trip to Namibia,