Russian Ministers Visit North Korea for Cooperation Meetings and Hospital Construction Launch

Three Russian ministers visited North Korea at the same time, holding sectoral working-level meetings to boost cooperation and exchanges at a hotel in the Wonsan-Kalma eastern seaside resort region on April 22, 2026. The gatherings included Russian Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov, North Korea's External Economic Relations Minister Yun Jong-ho, Russia's Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, and North Korea's Public Health Minister Kim Tu-won.

kr reported these developments via the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Kozlov, who serves as the Russian chair of the bilateral committee on trade and economic cooperation, and Murashko attended a ceremony on April 22, 2026, to launch the construction of a hospital in the Wonsan-Kalma tourist district honoring North Korea-Russia friendship.

At the event, Murashko stated that the hospital project is a clear example of the unchanging development of the two countries' friendship. The hospital construction is part of agreements reached at a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in June 2024.

The two ministers arrived in North Korea at the invitation of the North Korean regime. Meanwhile, Russian Internal Affairs Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, who has been visiting Pyongyang since Monday, met with the chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly.

Kolokoltsev also paid tribute at a memorial honoring Russian soldiers killed while fighting for North Korea during the liberation of Korea from Japan. The Korean Peninsula was divided into North and South after the liberation. These high-level exchanges between North Korea and Russia are expanding, with the countries set to mark the first anniversary of the recapture of the Kursk region next week.

North Korea announced it will hold a ceremony marking the completion of a memorial museum dedicated to North Korean soldiers killed in the Russia-Ukraine War on the anniversary of the Kursk recapture.

The hospital construction launch ceremony occurred on April 22, 2026, in the Wonsan-Kalma tourist region, as shown in an image from the Russian Embassy in North Korea's Telegram channel. North Korea and Russia held a summit between Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin in June 2024. kr reported that the increased exchanges come amid Moscow's war with Ukraine.