The chairman of North Korea's parliament plans to visit Russia this year, a Russian news report said Friday, following the recent news of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's plan to visit the neighbor in May.

   Choe Thae-bok, chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly, will visit Moscow sometime this year, the Korean-language Voice of Russia said, quoting a high-ranking Russian parliamentary official who attended a banquet celebrating the birthday of former leader Kim Jong-il a day earlier in North Korea.

   Valentina Matviyenko, the chairwoman of Russia's upper house, also plans to visit North Korea as part of the neighbors' efforts to step up parliamentary exchanges, according to the report.

   The detailed schedules of the visits are under discussion, it added.

   The report came as the two countries are accelerating efforts to tighten bilateral ties.

   Russia has previously announced Kim Jong-un's plan to attend a Russian ceremony in May to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in World War II.

   If the trip takes place, will be Kim's first visit to a foreign country since he took power in 2011. (Yonhap)