North Korea and Russia agreed on cooperation in the energy and economic sectors during North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui's surprise visit to Russia last month, Kyodo News reported on the 12th, citing the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (HUR).

Foreign Minister Choe made an official visit to Russia on July 18 at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and was received by President Vladimir Putin on the 19th.

Based on the details of the agreement between North Korea and Russia obtained by Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyodo News reported that the core of the agreement is for Russia to support North Korea in building a new oil refinery and expanding petroleum product production capacity, while receiving the produced fuel back to Russia.

Russia is known as one of the world's top three oil-producing countries, but it has reportedly been experiencing difficulties in producing petroleum products due to Ukrainian attacks on its refining facilities.

Kyodo News analyzed that Russia's plan appears to be exporting crude oil to North Korea, providing refining technology, and then procuring the refined products.

According to the terms of the agreement, Russia plans to support North Korea in constructing an oil refinery capable of producing up to 300,000 tons of aviation fuel and diesel fuel annually.

In addition, the two sides reportedly agreed to cooperate on producing up to 800,000 tons of petroleum products annually at the Sungri Chemical Complex, an oil refinery located in Rason, North Korea.

The agreement also includes North Korea supplying 25,000 tons of fuel-grade petroleum products to Russia by the end of this month, according to Kyodo News.

Russia also reportedly plans to involve its companies in developing North Korean port infrastructure for the purpose of transporting hydrocarbons, which are the main components of natural gas and petroleum.

It is also known that an agreement was reached for Russia to accept up to 14,000 North Korean workers and deploy them in special economic zones in the Far East to produce military supplies and dual-use goods.

Kyodo News assessed that most of the agreement's contents violate UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea.

The Ukrainian military intelligence did not disclose to Kyodo News how it obtained the information.

Russia and North Korea did not announce specific details of their agreement at the time of Foreign Minister Choe's visit to Russia.

(Photo: Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang, Yonhap News)