A delegation of North Korean weather agency officials has left for Russia, the North's state media reported Tuesday, as Pyongyang and Moscow have been expanding cooperation in various fields.

The delegation, led by Kim Jae-hyok, director of the State Hydro-Meteorological Administration, departed Pyongyang on Monday, the Korean Central News Agency said, without disclosing other details.

The delegation plans to visit Moscow, St. Petersburg and Vladivostok as part of efforts to implement an agreement reached at the May meeting of the subcommittee on scientific and technical cooperation of the two countries' intergovernmental committee, the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang wrote on its Facebook page.

Both sides are expected to discuss ways to expand cooperation of mutual interest, including the possible exchange of meteorological observation data and the forecast of adverse weather phenomena, such as storms and typhoons, the embassy said.

Russia anticipated the delegation's visit could produce results in important areas for "humanitarian, social and environmental cooperation."

North Korea and Russia have been bolstering military ties and other cooperation since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a summit in Russia's Far East in September last year.

In June, Putin traveled to Pyongyang and signed a new partnership treaty with Kim that includes a mutual defense clause. South Korea and the United States have accused North Korea of sending thousands of troops to Russia in support of Moscow's war with Ukraine. (Yonhap)