A delegation from Russia's Gazprom OAO visiting North Korea has held talks with officials from the Ministry of Oil Industry there, North Korea's central news agency reported late on Tuesday.

Present at the talks from the DPRK side were Minister of Oil Industry Kim Hui Yong, officials concerned, and from the Russian side, members of the delegation of Gazprom of Russia headed by Deputy Managing Chairman Alexandr Ananenkov, the Korean Central News Agency said.

At the talks, both sides discussed cooperation on oil and gas and a series of other issues of bilateral concern, KCNA said, without elaborating.

The Gazprom delegation's trip follows a reported recent visit by Russia's spy chief to the North Korean capital to discuss economic projects involving North and South Korea, the world's second-largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) buyer after Japan.

Russia and North Korea share a short border, but ties worsened and trade fell steeply after the collapse of the Communist Soviet Union in 1991.

(Reporting by Cho Mee-young; Editing by Chris Lewis)

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