North Korea is reportedly seeking to expand bilateral economic cooperation with China.

According to sources in Dandong, China, the North recently sent a large group of young workers in their 20s and 30s to the northeastern Chinese city, adding that the North Koreans did not seem to be simple laborers.

The sources speculated that the North Korean workers either deal in information technology or are part of efforts to expand trade and investment with China.

A Chinese expert on Korean Peninsula affairs said the North is actively seeking to secure an export destination with China that would replace the North’s stalled trade with South Korea.

The expert said the North is growing anxious in terms of securing foreign currency following the halt of inter-Korean trade and the suspension of profitable tours by South Koreans to the North’s Mount Geumgang resort.