North Korea has asked Russia to consider the possibility of evacuating staff from its embassy in Pyongyang due to increasing tension on the Korean Peninsula, a spokesman for the Russian embassy said by phone from Pyongyang on Friday, April 5.

According to Reuters, the spokesman, Denis Samsonov, said that Russia was examining the request but was not planning to evacuate at this stage, and that there were no outward signs of tension in the North Korean capital.