Russia’s trade and industry minister Denis Manturov says his country is considering potential for cooperation with North Korea in various industries, including aviation.

Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency said Manturov made the remark after showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un around an aircraft manufacturer in the industrial city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the Russian Far East on Friday. 

The minister stressed that mulling potential for cooperation with the North in the aviation industry is timely in order to achieve both countries’ task of securing technological sovereignty. 

His remarks suggest that Pyongyang and Moscow, which are subject to international sanctions, could assist each other in making military planes and civil aircraft through mutual cooperation without the support of Western countries’ technology and parts.