N. Korean gov't delegations visiting Russia for cooperation

Kim Su-gil, left, chief secretary of the Pyongyang Municipal Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, who recently visited Russia with a delegation of North Korean party officials, is seen in this file photo carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, Feb. 20. Yonhap

Delegations led by senior North Korean government officials in charge of technology, fisheries and sports affairs have left for Russia, state media reported Tuesday, as Pyongyang and Moscow have been expanding bilateral cooperation.

Information and Trade Minister Ju Yong-il and other delegates left Pyongyang on Monday to attend a global IT forum in Moscow, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The Eurasia IT forum will be held in Moscow on Tuesday and Wednesday under the theme of "digital sovereignty as the basis for long-term international cooperation," according to its website.

A delegation, led by Vice Fisheries Minister Son Song-kuk, departed for Russia the previous day to discuss ways to promote bilateral cooperation in the fisheries sector, the KCNA said.

Vice Sports Minister O Kwang-hyok also headed to Russia to attend a ceremony to sign a 2024 sports exchange protocol between the two nations.

Meanwhile, a delegation of North Korea's ruling party officials returned home Monday after wrapping up its latest trip to Russia, the KCNA said in a separate dispatch.

Kim Su-gil, an alternate member of the political bureau of the Workers' Party, met with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and other Russian politicians.

North Korea and Russia have expanded the scope of their cooperation following the summit between the North's leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in September last year.

Pyongyang is suspected of having provided artillery and munitions to Russia for use in Moscow's war in Ukraine in exchange for Russia's potential transfer of weapons technology. (Yonhap)