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Delegation from North Korea's top officer training school visits Russia for second time within a year

Published: 01 Jul. 2025, 13:48 Updated: 01 Jul. 2025, 13:52

A delegation from Kim Il Sung Military University led by Kim Kum-chol visits Russia on July 8, 2024. [KCNA]

A delegation from Kim Il Sung Military University, North Korea’s top training institution for senior military officers, has made another visit to Russia — the second in a year — in a show of tightening bilateral ties and possible preparations for further troop deployments.

The Rodong Sinmun reported Tuesday that the delegation, led by university president Kim Kum-chol, departed from Pyongyang International Airport the previous day to visit a military academy under the Russian General Staff. A similar visit by a delegation led by Kim took place in July last year, and was also publicly disclosed by North Korean state media.

While the paper did not specify the purpose of the visit, the timing suggests it is linked to the first anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty between North Korea and Russia on June 19 of last year. The two countries have been holding various events to mark the occasion and demonstrate growing military and cultural cooperation.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met with Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova in Pyongyang on Sunday to discuss bilateral cultural exchanges. The two then attended commemorative performances for the treaty anniversary, held at the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre, organized by Russia, and the April 25th House of Culture, organized by North Korea. One performance included video footage appearing to show Kim approving North Korea’s participation in the Battle of Kursk and the return of remains of North Korean troops killed in battle in Russia.

There is also speculation that the visit may involve discussions about additional North Korean troop deployments, expected to take place in July or August. Kim Kum-chol was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in December for his role in supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sheds tears while watching a video of North Korean soldiers dispatched to the Kursk region during a ceremony held on June 29 at the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre in Pyongyang, North Korea. The footage was released by the state television on June 30. [KOREA CENTRAL TV]

Last month, Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia’s Security Council and a close aide to President Vladimir Putin, visited Pyongyang and met with Kim Jong-un. He later announced that North Korea had agreed to send 6,000 personnel to Russia, including 1,000 engineers for mine removal in the Kursk region and 5,000 troops for infrastructure reconstruction.

Meanwhile, artwork from Mansudae Art Studio — which is on the United Nations sanctions list — is expected to be exhibited this summer at a museum in Moscow. According to U.S.-based NK News, the exhibition will take place from Aug. 18 to Sept. 17 at the All-Russian Decorative Art Museum, as part of an agreement signed between Russia’s Ministry of Culture and North Korea’s Ministry of Culture during Lyubimova’s visit.

Mansudae Art Studio is a state-run collective founded in November 1957 under the Workers’ Party’s Propaganda and Agitation Department. It employs over 1,000 artists and has long been a key source of foreign currency for North Korea through statue exports, leading to its sanctioning by South Korea and the United States in 2016. The studio is known for producing propaganda works, including the statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong-il on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang, as well as watercolor paintings, oil paintings, prints and murals.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY YOON SO-YEON [[email protected]]