A delegation of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party officials has reportedly departed on a trip to Russia as the two nations appear to be expanding bilateral cooperation in military, economic, cultural and political fields. 

The North’s Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) reported on Tuesday that the delegation led by Kim Su-gil, chair of the party’s Pyongyang city committee, left Pyongyang the previous day to visit Russia at the invitation of Russia’s ruling United Russia party. 

The KCNA said that the delegation will participate in a conference hosted by the Russian party.

According to the website of the United Russia party, the inaugural “for the freedom of the people” conference, a multilateral cooperation system against modern colonialism, will be held from Thursday to Saturday.

Chief delegate Kim Su-gil, former director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People’s Army, is on the sanctions list against the North by South Korea and the United States for his alleged involvement in the development of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles. 

The delegation’s visit to Russia indicates that the scope of people-to-people exchanges between the two countries is expanding.