More than 3,700 North Koreans visiting Russia for 'academic' purposes..."Possible dispatch of workers"

From July to September this year, about 3,700 North Koreans visited Russia for "academic" purposes, the largest number since 2010, according to the US Radio Free Asia.

Radio Free Asia said a total of 5,263 North Korean nationals visited Russia in the third quarter of this year, based on data from the Russian Federal Statistical Office.

In addition, 3,765 people reported that the purpose of the visit was academic, up sharply from 38 in the first quarter and 332 in the second quarter.

More than 3,700 North Koreans visited Russia for academic purposes, the highest level in 14 years since 2010.

Radio Free Asia reported that it is likely that North Koreans visiting Russia for the purpose of "academic" suddenly increasing are actually workers.

The broadcaster also said that there are few new North Korean workers recently sent to Russia, so there are observations that it may be related to the dispatch of North Korean troops to the war in Ukraine.