The Leader of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) Patriarch Kirill said Monday that he intends to send a delegation to Pyongyang in October to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Russia-DPRK ties, according to an official church report Monday.

Kirill announced the plans during a meeting in Moscow with members of the DPRK Orthodox Committee, where he thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally for his “attention” to the ROC presence in Pyongyang – the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity – and invited him to visit the building.

This, he said, “would be a very significant, important event,” to which