▲ This photo, captured from a broadcast of Korean Central TV, shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shaking hands with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui as they meet for talks in Pyongyang on Oct. 19, 2023. (For Use Only in South Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

(LEAD) Lavrov-NK visit

(LEAD) Russia's top diplomat arrives in N. Korea: reports

(ATTN: RECASTS dateline; ADDS more details with N. Korea's media report in para 5)

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON/SEOUL, July 12 (Yonhap) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has arrived in North Korea for talks with his North Korean counterpart, a Russian news agency reported Friday, in yet another sign of a deepening bilateral partnership.

His plane touched down in Wonsan, an eastern coastal city where Pyongyang opened a coastal tourist zone on July 1 in an effort to boost its tourism industry at a time when it is striving to secure foreign currency, according to TASS.

Lavrov's trip to the North will last until Sunday, when he is set to fly to China to attend a foreign ministerial meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states.

In the North, Lavrov will hold talks with his North Korean counterpart Choe Son-hui, according to the report.

The North's Korean Central News Agency also reported Saturday that Lavrov arrived in the North the previous day. It briefly said that "there will be talks between the two nations' foreign ministers." It did not disclose further details.

His trip comes as Moscow and Pyongyang have been reinforcing their broad-based cooperation since Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed a "comprehensive strategic partnership" treaty during a summit in Pyongyang in June last year.

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