North Korea's health minister heads for Russia

North Korea's Public Health Minister Jong Mu-rim, right, holds talks with Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora, in this undated file photo posted on a Facebook site of the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang. Yonhap

North Korea's health minister left for Russia to bolster cooperation in the fields of science and medicine, the North's state media reported Sunday.

The North's delegation, led by Public Health Minister Jong Mu-rim, headed for Russia on Saturday, the North's Korean Central News Agency said, without elaborating further.

After holding their first summit in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok in April 2019, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin held another summit at Russia's Vostochny spaceport in September last year.

The two nations have since been strengthening cooperation in various fields amid growing concerns that Pyongyang has provided weapons to Moscow for its use in Russia's war against Ukraine. (Yonhap)