Everything with Korea: the State Duma is preparing an exchange of visits with the DPRK in 2025

Moscow and Pyongyang have planned a mutual exchange of visits at the parliamentary level in 2025, the Friendship Group with the DPRK told Izvestia. The Russian delegation will arrive in North Korea in October on the occasion of the Founding Day of the Workers' Party. Earlier, North Korean parliamentarians are due to visit Moscow. About how relations between Russia and the DPRK have become closer in recent years and what prospects await them in the future, see the Izvestia article.

Russia and North Korea to exchange delegations in 2025

In 2025, Moscow and Pyongyang are preparing an exchange of delegations where the most important aspects of economic cooperation between Russia and North Korea will be discussed, Kazbek Taisaev, coordinator of the parliamentary Friendship group with the DPRK, State Duma deputy Kazbek Taysaev (KPRF), told Izvestia.

— This year, a representative delegation of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation will take part in the celebrations on the occasion of the Founding Day of the Workers' Party of Korea, which will be held in October. In turn, we look forward to the arrival of our Korean colleagues in Russia in the near future," the parliamentarian explained.

Inter-party relations between the two countries are developing on a systematic basis and are accompanied by regular mutual visits, the deputy stressed.

In early April 2025, a delegation from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation visited Pyongyang. The deputies met with Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly (Parliament) of the DPRK Park Ying Chol.

According to Taisaev, the Russian deputies will prepare a rich program for their North Korean colleagues. "The plan will definitely include visits to memorable places of special importance in the context of the historical memory and friendship of our countries," he added. Guests will also be introduced to modern cultural sites that will reflect the spirit of national solidarity.

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At the meeting, the delegations will pay special attention to the issues of strengthening bilateral cooperation. Economic and infrastructure projects are particularly relevant. For example, a road bridge between Russia and the DPRK is currently under construction — the Communist Party of the Russian Federation was one of the first to make this proposal. Today, the countries are connected only by the railway Friendship Bridge over the Tumannaya River, which was built in Soviet times, in 1959. Thus, the highway between the two countries will strengthen trade cooperation, Kim Yong-un, a leading researcher at the Center for Korean Studies at the ISSA of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Izvestia.

"The bridge is very necessary because it will increase cargo traffic and it would be very convenient for our travel companies to send people from Vladivostok by bus to North Korea," the expert noted.

In addition to exchanging parliamentary delegations, Russia and the DPRK regularly hold high-level meetings. So, in September 2023, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived in Russia on his armored train, which was unofficially nicknamed the "mobile fortress." Together with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he visited the Vostochny cosmodrome. There, the heads of state were shown the assembly process of the launch vehicle of the Angara space rocket complex and the Soyuz launch complex, which became the reason for speculation in the Western media about the illegal military cooperation of the countries in space. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, called these accusations unfounded and unsubstantiated.

In June 2024, Putin returned to Pyongyang for the first time in 24 years. Then the leaders signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement. "The agreement signed today provides, among other things, for mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties to this agreement," the head of the Russian Federation stressed at the time. In response, the DPRK leader noted that relations between the two countries are entering a period of new prosperity. Meanwhile, on May 21, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Moscow was coordinating Kim Jong-un's visit to Russia, but did not specify specific dates.

In what areas do Russia and the DPRK cooperate?

The main result of the signing of the above-mentioned agreement was the participation of the North Korean military in the battles in the Kursk region in the free zone. Vladimir Putin noted that they "stood shoulder to shoulder with Russian fighters defending our Homeland as their own."

Kazbek Taysayev raised this issue separately in a conversation with Izvestia. According to him, the DPRK soldiers showed real heroism, and their act is a vivid symbol of friendship and unity of our peoples.

"It was genuine brotherly support — sincere, courageous and selfless. Then, in a difficult hour, we saw who our true allies are," said the secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

During the parade on May 9, 2025, Vladimir Putin personally thanked the North Korean generals. "We have received information that these are the people who commanded the DPRK special forces soldiers who fought in the Kursk region," Kim Yong-un said. According to him, among them were the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the DPRK Army and the head of the operational Directorate of the General Staff. "If you can imagine what kind of people come there in what ranks, then you can imagine the number of soldiers who fought in the Kursk region," said the Korean scholar.

So far, the results in the trade and economic sphere are rather modest. By the end of 2023, the trade turnover between the countries amounted to $34.4 million. So far, Russia has been purchasing consumer goods, radio equipment, and clothing from the DPRK. Kim Yong-un noted that, for example, the price of one fighter plane may be higher than the current trade turnover of both countries.

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At the same time, during the Soviet years, the USSR supplied North Korea with almost the entire volume of petroleum products, and by 1989 the trade turnover between the countries exceeded $ 2 billion, Alexander Vorontsov, head of the Korea and Mongolia Department at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Izvestia.

Despite the fact that this figure has dropped significantly today, Russia remains the main investor in the DPRK's infrastructure, the expert said. Vorontsov named the Rason border port and the railway between the two countries among the important facilities where Russian investments went. The Russian Railways company was engaged in its modernization.

Another promising area of cooperation may be attracting Korean citizens to work in Russia. This has been repeatedly stated by State Duma deputies, noting that this would help solve the shortage of personnel in the Russian market. At the same time, according to the UN Security Council resolution, Russia cannot host workers from the DPRK. However, in June 2024, Vladimir Putin announced that these sanctions needed to be reviewed.

According to the South Korean newspaper Yonhap, more than 13,000 North Korean workers arrived in Russia in 2024. Later, videos with Wildberries employees, allegedly North Korean citizens, began to spread on telegram channels.

Thus, over the past few years, relations between Russia and the DPRK have become significantly closer. First of all, it affected military cooperation, while the indicators of mutual trade leave much to be desired. Nevertheless, regular visits and joint projects offer good prospects for deepening economic ties.