Russian FM Lavrov on second day of visit

Описание: (25 Apr 2009) SHOTLIST
1. Mid of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (left) and South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan talking, pan left to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak walking in and shaking hands with Lavrov, then with other Russian officials
2. Mid of meeting between Lavrov and Lee
3. Close up of Lee
4. Close up of Lavrov
5. Wide of meeting
6. Mid of Russian officials
7. Mid of South Korean officials
8. Close up of Lee
9. Close up of Lavrov
10. Wide of meeting.
STORYLINE
North Korea restarted its nuclear facilities to harvest weapons-grade plutonium, an official said on Saturday, in an escalation of the communist state's standoff with the international community over its nuclear and missile programmes.
North Korea's announcement came as diplomatic efforts to bring Pyongyang back to nuclear negotiations, which have been stalled since
December, remain deadlocked.
On Saturday, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met his South Korean counterpart Yu Myung-hwan and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and renewed Russia's opposition to sanctions against North Korea for its rocket launch earlier this month.
Lavrov called for efforts to revive the stalled talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear programme.
North Korea has expelled international nuclear monitors, vowed to restart its atomic programme and quit disarmament negotiations to
protest the UN Security Council condemnation of its April 5 rocket launch.
The North says the rebuke was unfair because the rocket was carrying a satellite.
But the US and others believe it was a test of long-range missile technology.
In New York on Friday, a Security Council committee approved new sanctions on three major North Korean companies in response to the communist nation's rocket launch.
The new measures require nations that have dealings with the companies to freeze their assets.
The committee actions are final and do not require additional approval.
Lavrov flew to Seoul after his two-day trip to Pyongyang failed to persuade North Korean officials to end their boycott of the nuclear negotiations.
Before leaving Pyongyang, Lavrov delivered a letter from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, KCNA
said, without elaborating on the letter's contents.
Lavrov said he did not meet Kim.
North Korea's relations with Moscow are not as close as they were during the Soviet era but remain cordial.
Moscow usually avoids openly criticizing the North.
North Korea conducted a nuclear test explosion in the fall of 2006, but agreed a few months later during the six-nation talks to disable its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon in return for the equivalent of one (m) million tons of fuel oil in aid and other concessions.
Last June, North Korea blew up a cooling tower at the plant in a dramatic display of its commitment to denuclearisation.
But disablement work stopped a month later as North Korea wrangled with Washington over how to verify its past nuclear activities.

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