North Korea is expanding Russian-language classes in schools in 2026 as its alliance with Moscow deepens. A severe shortage of trained Russian teachers, however, is disrupting lessons across the country, and some schools now give English teachers short crash courses in Russian and send them straight into classrooms.
Russian lessons began at schools when the second semester opened on Oct. 1, a source in Ryanggang province told Daily NK on Thursday. “Schools teach English and Russian as the core foreign languages,” the source said. “The reality is that there aren’t enough teachers who can teach Russian properly.”
North Korean students now study Russian from the fourth grade of primary school through senior middle school. Foreign language classes, centered on English and Russian, take up about three hours a week, although the exact load varies slightly depending on the grade and the type of school.
North Korea runs a 12-year compulsory education system that includes five years of primary school. Students then spend three years each in junior and senior middle school, roughly matching middle and high school in South Korea.
Even in primary schools, a dedicated subject teacher handles Russian lessons rather than the homeroom teacher, according to the source. Every school therefore needs its own Russian specialist, but most schools have not been able to find one.
The source noted that Russian classes had existed in the past but had not operated for decades, leaving almost no teachers who had majored in Russian.
“Now the state is pushing Russian education again, and specialists are in short supply,” the source added. “Some schools have English teachers study Russian for a short time and then put them in front of a class.”
The practice of sending underprepared teachers into Russian classes after brief training has raised concerns about the quality of instruction.
“The teachers themselves don’t know Russian well enough, so they struggle to teach pronunciation and vocabulary correctly,” the source said. “Schools know this, but people say it’s hard to find teachers who can actually teach Russian.”
Teacher colleges train new Russian teachers as shortages persist
North Korean authorities are trying to close the gap by training Russian specialists at teacher training schools, the source said. Foreign language departments at teachers’ colleges and universities of education are leading the effort.
In North Korea, teachers’ colleges mainly train primary school teachers. Universities of education, by contrast, prepare teachers for junior and senior middle schools.
Several universities of education formally reopened Russian-language majors this year, according to the source. “Some places have recreated training courses for Russian teachers,” the source said.
“It will take time before these new teachers actually reach schools, though,” the source added. “For now, schools have no choice but to run classes with the teachers they already have.”
Schools at every level have also received newly produced Russian textbooks, the source said. Together with teacher training, the textbooks suggest the regime is building the foundation for wider Russian education in stages.
The push follows a rapid buildup in ties between Pyongyang and Moscow in recent years. Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership treaty in June 2024 that includes a mutual defense clause. North Korea has since sent troops to fight alongside Russian forces in the war in Ukraine and dispatched growing numbers of workers to Russia.
Many students and parents, however, feel weighed down by the new emphasis on Russian, according to the source. They tend to see Russian as less useful than English, and many regard a second foreign language as an extra burden.
“Some students and parents wonder where they could ever use Russian even if they learn it,” the source said. “So they don’t respond to the lessons with much enthusiasm.”
The regime is pressing ahead with Russian education amid its close partnership with Moscow, the source noted. So far, however, the main result has been a heavier load on frontline schools and their students.
About This Translation
This article was originally written in Korean and translated with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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