SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korea and Russia signed a protocol Friday calling for economic cooperation between the two countries, the North's state-media said.

   A Russian economic delegation, led by Minister of Regional Development Viktor Basargin, was in North Korea to sign "a protocol of the 5th Meeting of the DPRK (North Korea)-Russia Intergovernmental Committee for Cooperation in Trade, Economy, Science and Technology," the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

   Trade Minister Ri Ryong-nam inked the protocol on behalf of North Korea, said the KCNA report, monitored in Seoul.

   The report did not give any details of the protocol.

   Also on Friday, the North's premier, Choe Yong-rim, met with the Russian economic delegation at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang, the KCNA said in a separate report.

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