North Korea has dispatched a delegation to the Eastern Economic Forum, which President Moon Jae-in is scheduled to attend, in Vladivostok next week.
 
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said the delegation, led by foreign economy minister Kim Young-jae, departed from Pyongyang on Monday.
 
North Korea is expected to discuss economic cooperation with Russia at the forum.
 
Russia has been hiring North Korean workers en masse to make up for a labor shortage in the Far East.
 
As the UN Security Council has banned the additional employment of North Korean workers overseas as well as the North’s export of natural resources, Pyongyang is in need of sounding out an economic partnership with Russia. 

Russia is interested in expanding trilateral projects with the two Koreas such as linking railways and a possible gas pipeline to the South.  

Russia has been hosting the forum annually since 2015 to attract investments for the development of the Far Eastern region and to boost economic cooperation with its neighbors. This year, the forum will be held for two days beginning Wednesday. 
 
Moon will arrive in Vladivostok on Wednesday when he is also scheduled to hold a summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin

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