SEOUL, October 14 (AJP) - North Korea has sent delegates to a forum in Russia, raising speculation about possible talks to secure energy supplies from Moscow to help ease its chronic power shortages.
The state-run [North] Korean Central News Agency reported on Tuesday that a delegation led by Minister of Electric Power Industry Kim Yu-il left Pyongyang to attend the 8th Russian Energy Week International Forum this week. This marks North Korea's second attendance at the forum since 2018.
The three-day forum scheduled to open on Wednesday at Moscow's Manezh Central Exhibition Hall and Gostiny Dvor near the Kremlin, will discuss various energy-related topics including nuclear energy, oil, gas, coal, and climate.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has hosted the event annually since 2017, will deliver speeches at the main session.
Russia, abundant in energy resources, has shown interest since the early 2000s in exporting surplus power from its Bureya hydroelectric power station in the Amur region to the Korean Peninsula. In August 2011, then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il visited the facility to bolster energy cooperation between the two countries.
* This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP.
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