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Minister calls on North Korea to ease visa requirements for Russians

Tourism may become one of the new growth areas of bilateral cooperation, according to the minister for the Development of the Russian Far East Alexander Galushka

VLADIVOSTOK, March 22. /TASS/. Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East Alexander Galushka has called on North Korea to ease visa requirements for Russian citizens to boost tourism and enhance bilateral cooperation, the ministry’s press service said on Thursday.

"This year our diplomatic relations mark the 70th anniversary. Our country was the first one to officially recognize the independence of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Tourism may become one of the new growth areas of bilateral cooperation. The Russians’ potential interest in your country is very high," Galushka told an intergovernmental commission for trade and economic and scientific and technical cooperation.

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Russian tourism agency’s chief sees no obstacles for fostering travel to North Korea

The minister called on the North Korean government to relax visa requirements for Russian citizens.

North Korea is among the countries where citizens may obtain e-visa to travel to the Far East’s Primorye, Kamchatka and Sakhalin under a simplified visa regime as part of the free port of Vladivostok.

Russia’s delegation working in the intergovernmental commission for trade and economic and scientific and technical cooperation between Russia and North Korea consists of representatives of 11 federal government agencies. The discussion focused on various issues of bilateral cooperation, including transport, energy, industry, agriculture, fisheries, education, science and technology, ecology, sports and culture.

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