Key facts
- North Korea may gain technical expertise from workers at a Russian drone production facility.
- The report suggests this could pose a new security threat to South Korea and U.S. forces.
- An estimated 15,000 to 30,000 North Korean workers were in Russia as of end-2025, some involved in drone manufacturing.
- North Korean workers in Russia generate an estimated average of US$7,500 annually.
North Korea may be enhancing its military drone capabilities by leveraging technical expertise gained from workers deployed to a major Russian drone production facility, according to a report released Wednesday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the George W. Bush Institute. The report suggests this collaboration could introduce a new security challenge for South Korea and U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific region.
The report cited findings from the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT), which estimated that between 15,000 and 30,000 North Korean workers were in Russia by the end of 2025, with some involved in military drone manufacturing. The MSMT also noted that Russia had implemented a student visa scheme to disguise these workers.
According to the report, North Korean technicians working at Russia's Alabuga drone production complex will return to Pyongyang with valuable knowledge from observing Russian refinements to the Geran attack drones, which are of Iranian design. The authors also highlighted that North Korea benefits financially from these overseas labor operations, as the regime retains 70 to 90 percent of the workers' wages, with each worker generating an estimated average of $7,500 annually.