N. Korea sends youth delegation to Russia to attend festival

Moon Chul, center, head of the Central Committee of the North Korean Socialist Patriotic Youth League, is seen off by Russian Ambassador to Pyongyang Alexander Matsegora, left, in this file photo carried by North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency, Feb. 27. Yonhap

A delegation of North Korean youths has left for Russia to take part in the World Youth Festival, Pyongyang's state media said Tuesday, as the two nations have been deepening cooperation.

The delegation, led by Moon Chul, head of the Central Committee of the North Korean Socialist Patriotic Youth League, left Pyongyang on Monday to attend the event, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a short dispatch.

The delegation will also "discuss expanding ties between the two countries' youth organizations," Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency said, citing the Russian Embassy in North Korea.

The World Youth Festival will be held from Friday to March 7 in the federal territory of Sirius near the city of Sochi, the report said.

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)