Foreign ministry officials said Monday... South Korea and Russia will start four days of talks aimed at concluding a criminal extradition treaty Friday.

An official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said that Alexandre Rodionov, deputy head of a department under the Russian Justice Ministry, will visit Seoul on Friday to finalize negotiations to sign the treaty.

He added... the agreement will pave the way for the two countries to crack down on crime and facilitate extradition measures in line with the increasing bilateral exchanges between the two countries.

South Korea and Russia began talks on forging the extradition treaty last July in Moscow.

Meanwhile, Rodionov made a trip to North Korea from May 5-11 to discuss revising a judicial cooperation treaty signed in December 1957.