North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang on Wednesday to pay respects to the late Russian Ambassador Alexander Matsegora, who died four days earlier aged 70, according to state media.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Thursday that Kim placed a bouquet of flowers before the late envoy’s portrait and observed a moment of silence, honoring the diplomat who had “devoted his noble life to boosting and developing the DPRK-Russia friendship.” 

KCNA photographs showed Kim kneeling on one knee as he laid the flowers.

Kim praised Matsegora as “an able diplomat” who made a