The number of North Koreans entering Russia in the third quarter of this year exceeded 5,000, the highest level ever, according to NK News, a U.S. media outlet specializing in North Korea, on the 11th local time.
Most of the arrivals were identified as study visas, and there are speculations that student visas were used to disguise the troops North Korea sent to Russia.
According to NK News, Russia's Federal Security Service counted 5,263 North Koreans who entered the country from July to September.
This is a significant increase from the previous quarter's 1,700 and is the largest since the fourth quarter of 2019.
Among North Koreans entering Russia in the third quarter of this year, 3,765 student visas increased more than 10 times from 332 in the previous quarter.
"I've never heard of thousands of North Korean students studying abroad at once," said Chris Monday, a professor at East and West universities in South Korea, adding that Russian student visas may be intended to disguise North Korea's military movement.
According to a tally by the Russian Ministry of Education, there were only about 130 North Korean students in Russia as of April.
It is estimated that between 10,000 and 10,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia for the war in Ukraine.
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