▲ A delegation from Russia's industry and trade ministry arrives in North Korea on Oct. 15, 2025, to attend a meeting of a joint forestry subcommittee related to economy and trade cooperation between the two countries, in this photo carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency the following day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

N Korea-Russia-forestry

N. Korea, Russia sign agreement on forestry cooperation

SEOUL, Oct. 17 (Yonhap) -- North Korea and Russia have signed an agreement on the forestry sector in an effort to expand exchanges and cooperation between the two sides, state media reported Friday.

The North and Russia signed the protocol in Pyongyang the previous day after holding a meeting of a joint forestry subcommittee related to economy and trade cooperation between the two countries, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The meeting discussed detailed issues over how to "expand and develop exchanges and cooperation in the forestry sector," the report said.

For the meeting, a delegation from Russia's industry and trade ministry, led by Grigory Gusev, deputy director of the ministry's timber industry department, arrived in North Korea on Wednesday.

The forestry subcommittee has been in operation for nearly three decades between the two countries, with the North having dispatched woodcutters to Russia to earn foreign currency amid prolonged international sanctions.

Experts speculated the two nations may have discussed North Korea's dispatch of workers to Russia, which has suffered a labor shortage amid its war with Ukraine.

South Korea's spy agency said in April that North Korea had sent around 15,000 workers to Russia.

North Korea has sent workers abroad, including to Russia, China, Mongolia and Africa, to earn hard currency in violation of U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions against Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

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