Russian delegation discusses trade, tech cooperation during visit to North Korea
Published: 23 Apr. 2026, 15:34
Updated: 23 Apr. 2026, 17:44
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- MICHAEL LEE
- [email protected]
![Members of a Russian delegation, left, and their North Korean counterparts hold talks at the Wonsan-Kalma resort on the North's eastern coast on April 22 in this photo released the following day by the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party. [NEWS1]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/23/d7d9e2b7-2789-4c17-b7db-5133dfcee677.jpg)
Members of a Russian delegation, left, and their North Korean counterparts hold talks at the Wonsan-Kalma resort on the North's eastern coast on April 22 in this photo released the following day by the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party. [NEWS1]
A Russian delegation visited North Korea earlier this week to meet with local counterparts, Pyongyang's state media reported Thursday, highlighting a deepening partnership between the two countries.
The officials sent by Moscow included Russian Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov and Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, who met North Korean External Economic Relations Minister Yun Jong-ho and Public Health Minister Kim Du-won at a hotel in the Wonsan-Kalma resort on the North’s eastern coast the previous day, according to the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The two ministers came to North Korea at the invitation of the North Korean regime, the KCNA said.
The agency reported that the talks focused on expanding cooperation in trade, the economy and science and technology between the two countries, with the officials also taking part in a groundbreaking ceremony for a joint “North Korea–Russia Friendship Hospital” in Wonsan.
Murashko said the hospital project is a clear example of the “unchanging development” of the two countries’ partnership in a speech at the event.
Its construction was agreed upon between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin during their summit in Pyongyang in June 2024, according to the KCNA.
The hospital was just one of several infrastructure and institutional projects agreed upon by the leaders during the summit.
![Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, left, speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for Korea-Russia Friendship Hospital in Wonsan, North Korea, on April 22 in this photo released the following day the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party. [NEWS1]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/23/5ae24db7-17d2-4d6a-bb93-30e919420de6.jpg)
Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, left, speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for Korea-Russia Friendship Hospital in Wonsan, North Korea, on April 22 in this photo released the following day the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party. [NEWS1]
Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, who arrived in Pyongyang on Monday, met separately with senior North Korean officials and held talks on expanding cooperation in public security. One of the officials Kolokoltsev met with was Jo Yong-won, chairman of the Supreme People’s Assembly, the North’s rubber-stamp legislature, according to KCNA.
He also laid a wreath at the Liberation Tower, a monument honoring Soviet soldiers who took part in recapturing Korea from Japan in the last days of World War II.
The Soviet-occupied northern half of the Korean Peninsula became North Korea after Moscow refused to allow United Nations-supervised elections — which led to the establishment of the South Korean government — to take place in areas under its control.
Observers believe the current round of high-level exchanges between Pyongyang and Moscow could peak around April 26 or 27, roughly one year after both countries said their troops had repelled the Ukrainian incursion into Russia's Kursk region.
Putin claimed Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from Kursk on April 26 last year, while Kim followed suit the next day.
Another joint project where the two sides have made progress is a road bridge between the North Korean special economic zone of Rason and the Russian border town of Khasan.
The final segment connecting the bridge was laid on April 21, according to the Rodong Sinmun, the ruling Workers’ Party’s official newspaper.
![A road bridge between Rason, North Korea, and Khasan, Russia, nears completion in this photo released on April 23 by the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party. [NEWS1]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/23/2eef45fd-c42a-4f43-99ec-c983abe61d53.jpg)
A road bridge between Rason, North Korea, and Khasan, Russia, nears completion in this photo released on April 23 by the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party. [NEWS1]
Construction on the bridge began in 2019, but was delayed by border closures tied to the Covid-19 pandemic. It regained momentum following the Kim and Putin’s June 2024 summit, where they signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership” treaty .
Although a railway already connects Khasan to Rajin, the new bridge is expected to strengthen economic cooperation and facilitate travel and trade between the two countries, according to Pyongyang’s state media.
“The two countries are cooperating across nearly all sectors, and the relationship is becoming institutionalized rather than event-driven,” said Lim Eul-chul, an associate professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University.
“As the war in Ukraine has created a mutually beneficial relationship for the two countries, this close alignment is likely to continue for the time being,” he added.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHUNG YEONG-GYO, MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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