North Korea makes Russian mandatory in schools

North Korea has introduced Russian as a compulsory subject in schools from the 4th grade onward.

Alexander Kozlov, minister of natural resources and environment and co-chair of the intergovernmental commission of the Russian Federation and North Korea, said at a commission meeting in Moscow that currently, some 600 people in North Korea study Russian. This makes it one of the top three most popular languages in the country.

In Russia, 3,000 schoolchildren and 300 university students study Korean, he said.

He added that last year, 96 North Korean citizens were accepted to Russian universities, including MGIMO, the university that trains diplomats. A further 29 were enrolled in geology courses in Russia this year.

Kozlov said the two countries are cooperating in education across sectors such as banking, energy, medicine, and geology. He added that Russia is building a center in North Korea that will offer Russian-language education at Kim Chol Ju Normal University.

Traditionally strong Russian ties with North Korea have been growing since the former’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

North Korea has been supplying weapons to Russia and sending troops to fight on the front lines and to demine the Kursk region, a Russian territory briefly occupied by Ukraine. Two of the world’s most prolific state-linked cybercrime groups — Russia’s Gamaredon and North Korea’s Lazarus collective — have also been spotted sharing resources.

In August 2025, Russian tourists flocked to North Korean resorts as Russian airlines launched direct flights to Pyongyang.