North Korean leader Kim Jung-un meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Pyongyang, June. 22, 2019. Yonhap

North Korea and China are expected to have "vibrant" exchanges this year on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties, Seoul's unification ministry said Tuesday.

North Korea declared 2024 as the "year of DPRK-China friendship," a designation first introduced in 2009 to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations, according to an official from the ministry.

DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. China is North Korea's traditional ally and economic benefactor.

In 2009, "there were vibrant exchanges between North Korea and China," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

He assessed the level of cooperation between North Korea and China as being "considerably" weaker than that between the North and Russia, given that the foreign ministers of Pyongyang and Beijing have not visited each other's country yet in recent years for talks.

North Korea and Russia have expanded the scope of their cooperation following the summit between the North's leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in September last year.

Pyongyang is suspected of having provided artillery and munitions to Russia for use in Moscow's war in Ukraine in exchange for Russia's potential transfer of weapons technology.

South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik told reporters this week that North Korea has been operating its munitions factories at full capacity to supply weapons to Russia in exchange for much-needed food and other necessities.

"North Korea and Russia did not have many things to exchange with each other in the past. But Moscow's war with Ukraine has changed that situation. It remains to be seen whether these relations could continue," the official at the unification ministry said. (Yonhap)

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