North Korean, Russian officials discuss economic ties as Seoul raises labour export concerns

Senior North Korean economic officials met with the governor of a Russian region along the Pacific coast for discussions on boosting economic cooperation between the countries, North Korean state media said on December 13.

Senior North Korean economic officials met with the governor of a Russian region along the Pacific coast for discussions on boosting economic cooperation between the countries, North Korean state media said on December 13.

The meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, came as concerns have grown in South Korea that the North may be attempting to expand its labour exports to Russia in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions to generate revenue for its struggling economy and help fund leader Kim Jong Un’s nuclear weapons programme.

The official Korean Central News Agency said North Korean officials led by the country’s External Economic Relations Minister Yun Jong Ho met with the delegation led by Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of the Primorye region in the Russian Far East, and discussed elevating economic cooperation between the countries to “higher levels.” The report did not specify the types of cooperation that were discussed.

Mr. Kozhemyako told Russian media ahead of his visit that he was expecting to discuss expanding cooperation with the North Koreans in agriculture, tourism and trade.

Mr. Kozhemyako’s visit extends a flurry of diplomacy between North Korea and Russia this year, highlighted by a summit between Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin in September, which underscores their aligning interests in the face of separate, intensifying confrontations with the United States.

The U.S. and South Korea have accused North Korea of supplying Russian with artillery shells and other weapons over the past months to help it wage war on Ukraine, although both Russia and North Korea have denied such transfers.

There are also concerns that North Korea is preparing to send workers to Russia to secure badly needed foreign currency, which would run afoul of U.N. Security Council sanctions imposed on the North over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.