SEOUL, November 25. /TASS/. Russia wants to develop sports ties with North Korea, Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev stated on his Telegram channel on Monday.

The Russian and North Korean sports ministers, Degtyarev and Kim Il Guk, respectively, held talks in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang on November 24, signing a cooperation protocol regarding sports development exchanges for the year of 2025.

"We [Russia] attach great importance to the development of sports cooperation, as well as constructive dialogue, with North Korea," Degtyarev said in a statement on his Telegram channel. "The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement signed earlier by the heads of our states is clear proof of the unmatched high level of relations between our countries."

"Earlier this year, Russia hosted joint training camps in five sports - boxing, wrestling, synchronized swimming, rhythmic gymnastics and figure skating," Russia’s top sports official continued.

"We have scheduled bilateral training camps for the women’s ice hockey teams in [the city of Krasnoyarsk] in December," Degtyarev noted. "This past summer, the national women’s football teams [of Russia and North Korea] met to play two friendly matches in Moscow."

The Russian sports minister also proposed organizing regular Russian-Korean Summer Games.

"Starting in 2025, I proposed holding the Russian-Korean Summer Games on a biennial basis [in Russia and North Korea alternately]," he noted. "We are ready to hold at least 10 sports competitions on the program of the possible Games. The North Korean side was all for this."

The protocol signed by the heads of the Russian and North Korean sports ministers also includes provisions to work together in a variety of other sports areas, including in the sphere of sports science, education, as well as the organization of training camps for 13 various sports, with nine of them already planned to be hosted by Russia and the rest taking place in North Korea.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported earlier in the day that Kim Il Guk, North Korea's minister of physical culture and sports, signed the protocol with Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev in Pyongyang the previous day.

South Korea’s daily the Korea Times reported on Sunday: "Since signing a ‘strategic partnership treaty’ in June, the two countries have expanded bilateral cooperation in various sectors, including the military, economy and sports."