Two large Russian delegations of officials and ballet performers are visiting North Korea this week to mark the 75th anniversary of a cultural and economic cooperation agreement, in the latest sign of bilateral efforts to boost ties.

The delegations headed by Oleg Kozhemyako, the governor of Russia’s Far East region of Primorsky Krai, and Russia’s culture vice-minister Andrey Malyshev arrived in Pyongyang on Monday, the DPRK’s Korean Central News Agency reported the following day.

The Russian delegations likely traveled to North Korea aboard Air Koryo Tu-204 and An-148-100B planes that departed about three hours apart from Vladivostok, according to