Choe Ryong-hae, a senior official of the ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is to visit Russia as a special envoy of DPRK top leader Kim Jong-un, the Korean Central News Agency said on Friday.

However, the report did not reveal the planned date of the trip by Choe, a member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Workers' Party of Korea.

On Oct 28, Russia's Far East Development Minister Alexander Galushka said Russian private investors would provide $25 billion to upgrade 3,500 kilometers of railroads and other infrastructure in the DPRK in exchange for access to the country's natural resources.