In the first quarter of 2025, North Korean citizens practically stopped traveling to Russia, noted «Mediazona»* based on FSB border service data. Last year, the number of North Koreans entering reached almost 13,000 people.
Mass visits by North Korean citizens began in the third and fourth quarters of 2024 amid reports that North Korea had transferred thousands of its soldiers to participate in the war in Ukraine. Later, the participation of North Korean soldiers in combat operations in the Kursk region was confirmed by both Russia and North Korea. Vladimir Putin thanked the «Korean warriors» for their «heroism, high level of special training, and dedication». And Kim Jong Un called the dispatch of his military a «sacred mission to further strengthen» friendship and solidarity with Russia and «protect the honor» of North Korea.
South Korean intelligence reported that North Korea sent about 11,000 military personnel to Russia to participate in the war against Ukraine, participating in a large-scale conflict for the first time since the Korean War in the fifties. According to intelligence estimates, about 4,000 of them were killed or wounded.
According to FSB data, in the first quarter of 2025, the flow of «North Korean students» to Russia dried up: only about 300 people entered the country during this time, with only three indicating study as the purpose of their trip.
* Recognized in Russia as a «foreign agent».