The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday the sudden death of Alexander Matzigora, Russia's ambassador to North Korea, who has held the position for over a decade. The ministry expressed its "deep regret" in a statement over the death of the 70-year-old diplomat, who speaks Korean. The cause of death was not specified. The ministry noted that since the late 1970s, Matzigora had worked to strengthen economic and diplomatic cooperation between North Korea and the Soviet Union, and later Russia. Under his wise and sensitive leadership, many generations of diplomats and Korean affairs specialists have grown. Matzigora served as Russia's ambassador to Pyongyang since 2014. The ministry emphasized that he was a "driving force" behind the "hard work over the years" that led to the "current unprecedented level of relations" between Russia and North Korea. The two countries are currently experiencing rapid diplomatic, military, and economic rapprochement. The nations are bound by a mutual defense pact, signed in 2024 after a formal visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Pyongyang. In light of this, North Korea has actively participated in Russia's war effort by providing thousands of soldiers between late 2024 and spring 2025 to confront Ukrainian forces stationed in a small part of Russia's border Kursk region. South Korea also suspects that North Korea is supplying Russia with weapons and ammunition, in exchange for which Moscow is allegedly transferring sensitive military technology to Pyongyang.
