© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The national flags of Russia and North Korea fly on a street near a railway station during North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s visit to Vladivostok, Russia, April 25, 2019. REUTERS /Yuri Maltsev/File Photo
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By Hyunsu Yim
SEOUL (Reuters) – A North Korean minister met with the governor of the Russian region bordering the two countries to discuss strengthening regional economic cooperation, state media KCNA reported on Wednesday, the latest exchange between the neighboring states.
Discussions between North Korea’s Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, Yun Jong Ho, and Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of Russia’s Far Eastern region of Primorsky, focused on “elevating economic cooperation to a higher level “, according to the press release.
The KCNA report also said the trade and economic working groups of the two sides signed an agreement, without providing details of it or the meeting between officials.
Primorsky is also known unofficially as Primorye.
The meeting comes as South Korea’s intelligence agency said Tuesday that there were signs that North Korea was considering deploying workers to Russia, according to the Yonhap news agency.
Any country employing paid North Korean workers would be violating U.N. Security Council sanctions aimed at curbing weapons programs banned by Pyongyang on the grounds that revenues can be funneled to finance those projects.
“This is the first visit after a long break caused by the pandemic,” Kozhemyako said on his Telegram channel. “The program of our delegation includes numerous meetings to develop humanitarian ties between Primorye and the DPRK. First of all, in the field of culture, tourism and sports.”
In November, Kozhemyako told Russian news agency TASS that Primorye was ready to consider the possibility of making part of its agricultural land available to North Korean farmers.
Kozhemyako’s visit marks the latest in a series of bilateral visits since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited Russia in September and met with President Vladimir Putin to discuss deepening military cooperation.
The pledge comes against the backdrop of what U.S. officials see as evidence of the North’s arms trade with Russia, which is spending huge amounts of munitions in its war against Ukraine.
North Korean Prime Minister Kim Tok Hun met Russian Minister of Natural Resources Alexander Kozlov last month and spoke in a “friendly atmosphere”, state media in Pyongyang reported at the time.
A delegation led by the North Korean Minister of Culture also visited St. Petersburg the same month to attend the St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum.
In October, a delegation from the North Korean Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports participated in the International Sports Forum in the Russian city of Perm.
