Russian governor in Pyongyang for talks on economic ties

North Korea hosted a Russian governor of a far-east border region on Tuesday for talks on boosting economic ties, according to Pyongyang’s official state news agency.

The official Korea Central News Agency said in a report Wednesday that North Korea’s foreign economic affairs official Yun Jong-ho met with Oleg Kozhemyako, the governor of Russia’s Primorsky, to discuss “elevating economic cooperation between regions of the two countries to a higher level.”

The state-run news agency added that the working groups of the neighboring countries signed an agreement on trade and economic relations, without providing further details.

The Russian delegation has been in Pyongyang since Monday, with Kozhemyako telling a Russian outlet last month he would speak with the North Korean side about joint projects on trade and agriculture.

Choi Eun-ju, a senior researcher of North Korea’s economy at the Sejong Institute in Seoul, said the talks likely touched on Pyongyang resuming economic activities halted over COVID-19 on a regional level.

“The exchanges would likely be most robust with regions bordering North Korea, such as Primorsky,” she told The Korea Herald. But as Primorsky is not a particularly developed part of Russia, the scope of cooperation would probably be limited to traditional businesses such as tourism and agriculture.

She added the title held by Yun, who hosted the Russian governor, suggested he has a vice ministerial, as opposed to a ministerial position, signaling that the talks focused on regional issues.

“Cooperation on economy is a good way to show off their ties while reducing diplomatic risks,” she said. “Also, it also serves the purpose of telling the world they are building on the relations at the working level beyond what was achieved through the summit.”

The exchange between the two countries comes as South Korea’s spy agency reports the latest signs of North Korean labor being sent to Russia, which neither country is likely to admit as it would amount to a violation of sanctions imposed against Pyongyang.

The South’s National Intelligence Service said late Tuesday that it has noted “recent moves by North Korea to dispatch its workers to Russia” and that it was “closely watching” the developments. The spy agency did not elaborate on what moves made by North Korea indicated its workers were being recruited in Russia.

In a briefing to lawmakers, the spy agency previously said that Russian help was likely behind North Korea’s first successful launch of a military reconnaissance satellite last month.