A sanctioned North Korean company with deep ties to the military is expanding into Russia’s diamond-rich Yakutia region, local media reported Tuesday, in what appears to be Pyongyang’s latest effort to send overseas labor in defiance of U.N. sanctions and deepen economic cooperation with Moscow.

Songi Trading General Corporation held a meeting with representatives of the Builder Union of Yakutia, a group of self-governed entities, to discuss “bilateral cooperation” given the “new strategic level of Russian-Korean friendly relations,” according to the Yakutia-based SakhaLife portal.