North Korea and Russia signed a protocol for cooperation after meetings in Pyongyang devoted to trade, economy, science and technology, the North Korean state news agency KCTA announced today, quoted by Reuters, BTA reported.
There were not many details in the KCTA announcement, but on Tuesday TASS reported, citing the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology, that the two countries agreed to increase charter flights after the meetings.
According to TASS, from January to September, more than 5,000 tourists traveled between Russia and North Korea, and more than 70% of them traveled by plane.
Charter flights are expected to increase not only from Eastern Russia, but also from major Russian cities in other parts of the country, the ministry said.
KCTA announced today that the Russian delegation headed by Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov, which met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Monday, has already left Pyongyang.
During the visit of the Russian delegation to North Korea, animals from the Moscow zoo were handed over as a "gift from Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Korean people". Russia has given the Pyongyang Zoo more than 70 animals, including an African lion and two brown bears, the Russian government announced yesterday.
In recent years, Pyongyang and Moscow have stepped up diplomatic and economic exchanges, culminating in Putin's visit to North Korea in June, when the countries' leaders agreed on a mutual defense pact. The increasingly close defense ties between the two countries have raised alarm among the international community. Washington, Kiev and Seoul condemned the North for sending military equipment and more than 10,000 soldiers to Russia to support its war against Ukraine, Reuters recalls.