A North Korean delegation from the country’s border city of Rason has left for Russia’s Far East, state media said Monday, the latest in a series of deepening exchanges between Pyongyang and Moscow.

The delegation, headed by the chief of the Rason Municipal People’s Committee, departed the northeastern city on Sunday to visit the far eastern Russian region of Primorsky Krai, the Korean Central News Agency said in a one-sentence dispatch.

Rason, which borders Russia and China, is a logistics hub designated as a special city by the North. A railway connects the border city to Khasan in neighboring Russia.

The delegation’s visit comes as North Korea and Russia seek to expand cooperation in a range of areas following a rare summit between their leaders in September.

Russian delegations from the Primorsky Krai region earlier visited the North for talks on exchanges in tourism, culture and sports, which led to the resumption of Russian group tours to the North earlier this year.

South Korea’s unification mini
stry in charge of inter-Korean affairs said it continues to monitor North Korea-Russia cooperation and stressed their exchanges should abide by U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions.

Source: Yonhap News Agency