North Korea sent its foreign minister to Russia for her second trip in less than a year to the major backer of Kim Jong Un’s regime. The move comes as Pyongyang readies for a parliamentary meeting that will likely approve measures that raise tensions with South Korea.

The United States has blacklisted a network accused of aiding financial payments between Russia and North Korea, two isolated countries that have grown financially and militarily closer amid the Kremlin's war in Ukraine.

North Korean Foreign Minister Choi Son Hui departed for a trip to Russia, state media reported Tuesday, as the two regimes continue to strengthen ties amid growing international concern about their military cooperation.