Russian delegation arrives in North Korea for five-day visit

A Russian delegation visited Pyongyang this week, the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, marking the latest of a barrage of exchangesincreasingly deeper, between the two countries, after a summit of their leaders, in September of last year.

KCNA said the delegation, chaired by Grigoriy Alekseevich Rapota, member of the International Affairs Committee of the Russian Federation Council and chairman of the Russia-North Korea parliamentary friendship group, arrived in Pyongyang on Monday.

The Russian Embassy in North Korea shared the news of the delegation’s arrival through its Telegram channel and stated that it will remain in Pyongyang until Friday.

According to publicationDuring that period, the two sides will discuss issues of parliamentary interaction and outline plans for future contacts.

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The delegation’s visit comes as North Korea and Russia have been expanding cooperation in several areas, following the unusual summit between their leaders in September.

On Saturday, a North Korean delegation from the border town of Rason returned home after a week-long visit to the Russian Far East.

Last week, Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of Russia’s northeastern Primorsky Krai region, said after a meeting with the North Korean delegation that passenger train service connecting Vladivostok to North Korea it will resumeafter years of suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In February, Kim Su-gil, a substitute member of the Politburo of the North Korean Workers’ Party (KWP), and other delegates, visited Russia at the invitation of the ruling party, United Russia. On that occasion, Kim met with the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Gennady Andreyevich Zyuganov.