This photo taken from South Korea's border county of Ganghwa, Oct. 29, shows a North Korean walking in Kaepung county in North Korea. Yonhap

More than 3,700 North Koreans visited Russia during the third quarter this year for "study" purposes, marking the highest quarterly figure since 2010, a United States news outlet reported Saturday.

U.S. broadcaster Radio Free Asia (RFA) said a total of 5,263 North Korean nationals visited Russia during the July-September period, citing data from Russia's Federal State Statistics Service.

The number is comparable to the 5,591 recorded during the same period in 2019, after which it dropped to a double-digit low from 2020 to 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of this year's third-quarter figure, 3,765 visited Russia for study purposes, a sharp increase from 38 in the first quarter and 332 in the second quarter. For a third quarter, the 2024 figure marks the highest since 2010.

The RFA speculated that the visitors may be workers dispatched to Russia to earn and send back foreign currency.

Alternatively, they may be linked to North Korea's deployment of troops to support Russia in its war against Ukraine, the RFA said, noting that data suggested no recent dispatch of additional workers to Russia.

Last month, U.S. National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said North Korea moved at least 3,000 troops to Russia by ship during a period from early- to mid-October. (Yonhap)