Kim Jong Un with his soldiers. Photo: Getty Images

A record number of North Korean nationals arrived in Russia in the third quarter of 2024, citing “training” as their reason for travel amid reports that North Korean troops have been deployed to take part in the war against Ukraine.

Source: The media zonea Russian media outlet citing information from the Russian Federal Security Border Service

Quote: “Border officials reported that 3,765 North Koreans arrived in Russia from July to September for education. By comparison, in the entire pre-COVID year of 2019, there were only 3,200 students.”

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Details: The media notes that the quota of North Korean students in Russia is still low. In April 2024, the Russian Ministry of Education reported that around 130 North Korean students were studying in Russia at the time. “For the coming academic year, more than 100 applications from the Korean side have been submitted to study at Russian universities,” Russian Education Minister Valery Falkov said.

The outlet points out that data from the Federal Security Border Service only covers the third quarter of 2024, before US intelligence publicly reported the deployment of North Korean troops.

South Korean news agency Yonhap, citing intelligence sources, claimed that the first stage of the North Korean troop transfer took place from October 8 to 13.

Background:

• Previous reports specified that North Korean military personnel were engaged in combat for the first time in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that it already has losses among North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russian forces in Kursk Oblast, Russia.

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