North Korea’s top school is considering opening a branch office in Russia’s key scientific hub in Siberia to boost academic exchanges amid the two countries’ push to develop political and humanitarian ties.

Kim Il Sung University (KISU) is eyeing Akademgorodok, a scientific satellite town of Novosibirsk, to become the site of its first overseas representative office, Novosibirsk State University (NSU) announced in a press release on Wednesday.

KISU is currently “exploring this possibility,” while NSU, the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SB RAS) and Akademgorodok’s tech park are working out “organizational issues” and “searching for a potential