What is the Russian education center planned for North Korea?

North Korea and Russia signed a supplementary agreement to establish and operate the center through a partnership between Pyongyang University of Education No. 2 and Russia’s Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University.

How does the education agreement fit into North Korea-Russia relations?

The agreement is part of broader cooperation between North Korea and Russia that has expanded in military, economic and other areas since the countries signed a mutual defense treaty in June 2024.

N. Korea, Russia discuss ways to expand exchanges in education

Q: What did the North Korean and Russian education ministers discuss in Pyongyang?

Ri Yong-chol and Sergey Kravtsov shared the educational successes and experience of North Korea and Russia and discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral exchanges and cooperation in education.

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Summary

North Korean and Russian education ministers discussed expanding educational exchanges in Pyongyang the previous day. Ri Yong-chol and Sergey Kravtsov shared educational experience and discussed further bilateral cooperation. The Russian delegation also toured Pyongyang University of Education No. 2, while the two countries signed an agreement to establish a Russian education center in North Korea.

Key Facts

The Russian delegation led by Sergey Kravtsov arrived in Pyongyang on Monday.
The planned Russian education center will operate through a partnership between Pyongyang University of Education No. 2 and Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University.
The Korean Central News Agency did not disclose further details about the ministers’ discussions.
North Korea and Russia signed a mutual defense treaty in June 2024 and have since expanded cooperation in military, economic and other areas.

By Yonhap

Published Oct 20, 2026 8:59 am KST

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of their talks at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Beijing, Sept. 3, 2025, in this file photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency the next day. Yonhap

The education ministers of North Korea and Russia have met in Pyongyang and discussed ways to expand exchanges in the education field, the North's state media reported Tuesday, amid deepening cooperation between the two nations.

North Korean Education Minister Ri Yong-chol and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Kravtsov, held talks the previous day, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). A Russian delegation, led by Kravtsov, arrived in Pyongyang on Monday.

"At the talks, the successes and experience gained by the two countries in the field of education were shared, and the issues of further boosting bilateral exchange and cooperation were discussed," the KCNA reported, without disclosing other details.

In a separate dispatch, the KCNA said the Russian delegation toured the Pyongyang University of Education No. 2, a major educational institution for training teachers in the North, the previous day.

The two nations signed a "supplementary agreement" to establish and operate a Russian education center in North Korea under a partnership between the Pyongyang university and Russia's Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University, according to the KCNA.

North Korea and Russia have been expanding the scope of cooperation in the military, economy and other areas since they signed a mutual defense treaty in June 2024.

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