Overview
- North Korea’s KCNA said the two sides signed a protocol on Thursday to expand exchanges and cooperation in the forestry sector after a subcommittee meeting in Pyongyang.
- The Russian team was led by Grigory Gusev, deputy director in the industry and trade ministry’s timber department, who arrived on Wednesday via Pyongyang International Airport.
- The meeting discussed detailed steps to grow forestry cooperation, though KCNA did not disclose specific measures or projects.
- The forestry subcommittee has operated for decades, historically including North Korean labor deployments to Russian timber work to earn foreign currency.
- Yonhap linked the agreement to broader ties that have intensified since North Korea sent troops to support Russia last year, while analysts speculated worker dispatch could have been discussed and South Korea’s spy agency previously estimated about 15,000 North Korean workers were in Russia despite U.N. bans.