The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has expressed hope that Russia could abolish its 8.8 billion U.S. dollars of debts dating back to the Soviet era, the RIA Novosti news agency reported Wednesday.

The two countries discussed the debt issue during a meeting in Moscow last March, but failed to make a decision, RIA Novosti said, citing Konstantin Pulikovsky, Russian co-chairman of a bilateral intergovernmental commission for economic and technological cooperation.

The DPRK hoped that Russia would make "a political decision" on the issue, but "such decisions fall within the scope of the countries' top leadership," Pulikovsky said.

Debt negotiations between Russia and the DPRK broke off in 2002 and reopened earlier this year.

Source: Xinhua