North Korean, Russian officials attend a ceremony launching the construction of a hospital in the Wonsan-Kalma tourist region honoring North Korea-Russia friendship, Wednesday, in this photo released by Korean Central News Agency the following day. Yonhap
North Korea and Russia are dramatically expanding high-level exchanges, with three Russian ministers visiting the North at the same time, as they mark the first anniversary of the recapture of the Kursk region next week amid Moscow's war with Ukraine, according to Pyongyang's state media Thursday.
Sectoral working-level meetings to boost North Korea-Russia cooperation and exchanges were held at a hotel in the Wonsan-Kalma eastern seaside resort region the previous day, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
The meetings brought together Russian Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov, who serves as the Russian chair of the bilateral committee on trade and economic cooperation; North Korea's External Economic Relations Minister Yun Jong-ho; Russia's Health Minister Mikhail Murashko; North Korea's Public Health Minister Kim Tu-won and others.
Kozlov and Murashko also attended a ceremony the previous day to launch the construction of a hospital in the Wonsan-Kalma tourist district honoring North Korea-Russia friendship, the KCNA said.
Speaking at the event, Murashko said the hospital project is a clear example of the "unchanging development" of the two countries' friendship.
The KCNA described the construction as part of agreements reached at a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in June 2024.
The two ministers arrived in North Korea the previous day at the invitation of the North Korean regime.
Meanwhile, Russian Internal Affairs Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, who has been visiting Pyongyang since Monday, met with Jo Yong-won, chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly, and paid tribute at a memorial honoring Russian soldiers killed while fighting for the North during the liberation of Korea from Japan, according to the KCNA. The Korean Peninsula was divided into North and South after the liberation.
The increased high-level exchanges between Pyongyang and Russia come as the two countries are set to mark the first anniversary of what Russia has described as the liberation of the Kursk region next week.
Source: Korea Times News
