North Korean residents who visited Russia in 2024 reached approximately 13,000, a twelvefold increase from 2023.
According to RFA, the latest immigration data from the Russian Federal State Statistics Service shows that 13,221 North Korean residents entered Russia throughout 2024.
This figure sharply increased from 1,117 in 2023, reaching 21,000 in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The largest number of visitors was for education, at 7,887, followed by business, at 3,098; vehicles, at 1,648; personal affairs, at 286; transit, at 234; tourism, at 53; and official duties, at 15.
Notably, the number of North Korean residents visiting Russia for educational purposes was the highest since 2012, at 6,636. However, there is speculation that these individuals may not actually be students but workers dispatched illegally under the guise of education.
The international community has long raised concerns that North Korean authorities are circumventing UN sanctions, which prohibit the dispatch of overseas laborers, by disguising them as students on study visas to send them to Russia.
In a report published in January 2020, the U.S. Congressional Research Service pointed out that North Korean workers in Russia were altering their residency status to remain under tourist or student visas. Similarly, the Ministry of Unification also made the same observation in August last year.
Meanwhile, the number of Russian citizens visiting North Korea last year was 6,469, marking the highest figure in 12 years.
Approximately 2,000 traveled for tourism, 1,500 for business, and 700 for personal affairs.