Raul Castro meets with North Korea military chief

Havana, Agency
Cuban President Raul Castro met in Havana with the head of North Korea's armed forces, Ri Yong Ho, the island's official media said Thursday.

Vice-Marshal Ri, who wrapped up his first official visit to Cuba on Wednesday, was received at the Palace of the Revolution by Gen. Castro, with whom he discussed "current international affairs."

During the meeting the leaders spoke of the "excellent state of bilateral relations between the two countries and the historical ties of friendship that unite the people and governments of Cuba and (North) Korea," Cuban Communist Party daily Granma reported.

Present at the meeting was the military delegation accompanying the vice-marshal on his trip to the island, together with Cuba's defense minister, Gen. Julio Casas Regueiro.

On his last day in Cuba, Ri was also decorated with the Order of Solidarity, presented to him by Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura.

The Cuban government also awarded the Combative Fraternity Medal and recognition for Distinguished Service to military officers of the Korean delegation.

Ri Yong Ho kicked off his trip to Havana on Oct. 29 with an agenda that included reviews of units and military schools of the Cuban army.

During his stay, he said that North Korea and Cuba were "companions in arms" in the "common anti-Yankee front," adding that both countries "will fight in the same trenches as companions in arms."

Ri, 68, has been since September one of the five members of the leadership panel of the North Korean ruling party politburo and vice president of the Military Central Committee.