Home > National > North Korea

North may send 25,000 workers to Russian drone factory, NHK reports

Published: 19 Jun. 2025, 17:32

LIM JEONG-WON
[email protected]

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un walks with Secretary of Russia's Security Council Sergei Shoigu during their meeting in Pyongyang on June 17. [YONHAP]

North Korea is considering dispatching 25,000 workers to a Russian drone production plant, further cementing military and industrial ties between Pyongyang and Moscow, according to a report by Japanese outlet NHK on Thursday.

Citing Russian and Western diplomatic sources, NHK said the workers would be sent to the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan, east of Moscow, where they would support the assembly and operation of military drones.

NHK reported that cooperation is deepening in a way that matches the intentions of Russia, which is focusing on drone production while continuing its invasion of Ukraine, and North Korea, which is pursuing military reinforcement.

Pyongyang and Moscow have been strengthening their cooperative relationship, with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin meeting on June 19 of last year and signing a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty.

Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu recently met with Kim on Tuesday and Wednesday, after which Kim pledged to send 6,000 military engineers and construction troops to Russia’s Kursk region.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]