Moscow is considering opening a “Russian House” — a culture center with intelligence ties — in North Korea, according to a high-level official, in a bid to expand its soft power reach.

Yevgeny Primakov, the head of the federal agency in charge of promoting Russian culture overseas (Rossotrudnichestvo), said the move to establish his organization’s foothold in North Korea would be “logical” considering the current level of relations between Moscow and Pyongyang.

While noting the plan falls under the purview of Russian diplomats, he told RIA Novostihe is “absolutely certain that at some point” his agency “will establish a