my timesThe Korea Times
  1. Foreign Affairs
  2. North Korea

N. Korea, Russia agree to expand cooperation in disaster response

Listen
By Yonhap
  • Published Oct 13, 2026 10:43 am KST
Kim Chol-nam, right, North Korea's minister of disaster management, and Aleksandr Kurenkov, the Russian minister of extraordinary situations, sign an agreement vowing cooperation between the ministries on disaster management from 2027-2029, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency Tuesday. Yonhap

Kim Chol-nam, right, North Korea's minister of disaster management, and Aleksandr Kurenkov, the Russian minister of extraordinary situations, sign an agreement vowing cooperation between the ministries on disaster management from 2027-2029, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency Tuesday. Yonhap

North Korea and Russia have signed an agreement to expand bilateral cooperation on disaster management for the next three years, the North's state media reported Tuesday.

Kim Chol-nam, the North's minister of disaster management, and Aleksandr Kurenkov, the Russian minister of extraordinary situations, signed the agreement in Pyongyang the previous day to boost cooperation on the matter from 2027-2029, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The "successes and experience gained by the two countries in the work to prevent disaster were exchanged and the issues of boosting bilateral exchange and cooperation were discussed," according to the report.

A delegation from Russia's emergency ministry arrived in Pyongyang on Sunday for talks with its North Korean counterpart on ways to deepen cooperation in disaster management.

The visit came as the Russian ministry and the North's corresponding ministry signed an agreement on specialist training and scientific and technical cooperation in December.