A German lawmaker who recently visited North Korea said the power of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un remains solid.
 
In a telephone interview with German news agency dpa, Hartmut Koschyk, a member of the German Bundestag, added that the North Korean leadership is open to dialogue over its human rights situations and inter-Korean relations.
 
He said Germany is not an intermediary for the two Koreas to enhance their bilateral relations but a sincere adviser that can share its own experience of unification.
 
He said the North Korean officials he met during his trip assured they were ready to take new steps to improve relations with South Korea. He said the visit by the three high-ranking North Korean envoys during the Incheon Asian Games was part of the efforts.
 
Koschyk is a seven-term lawmaker from the Christian Social Union. He is serving as the head of the friendship union for South Korean and German lawmakers and as a co-chair of a South Korea-Germany forum.