China and North Korea Slowly Seizing Control of Russia’s Far East
Russia’s vast Far Eastern Federal District — nearly seven million square kilometers with just 7.9 million inhabitants — is slipping under the growing influence of China and North Korea, according to a new analysis by Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SZRU).
Published on October 16, 2025, the report warns that Moscow, increasingly weakened by its ongoing war in Ukraine, is effectively “paying off” its allies through territorial concessions, jeopardizing control over as much as 40% of its own land.
The SZRU describes the Far East as a region “rich in resources but poor in development,” now turning into a shared sphere of Chinese and North Korean influence. Beijing’s dominance is primarily economic and demographic. Chinese investments are projected to reach one trillion rubles (about $12.6 billion) this year, focused mostly on trade rather than infrastructure. Trade volumes surged by 5.5 million tons in 2024 and another 36% in the first half of 2025, according to Khabarovsk Senator Viktor Kalashnikov.
China’s “creeping demographic expansion,” the SZRU notes, has brought up to two million Chinese residents into the region, from Vladivostok to the Urals, supported by visa-free regimes and preferential economic zones. “Enclaves are even being formed where Russians practically do not work,” the report states.
North Korea’s role is complementary but strategic. Over the past year, at least 15,000 North Koreans — and up to 50,000 unofficially — have arrived for construction, agriculture, and industrial work. Russian companies have requested an additional 153,000 contracts, while Pyongyang profits up to $500 million annually from this labor trade. The SZRU warns that this creates “labor dependence” on North Korea.
These developments, it cautions, may ultimately spark competition between Beijing and Pyongyang for resources and influence — both nuclear-armed states now entrenching themselves on Russian soil.
As the Kremlin pours half its national budget into the war in Ukraine, the once-remote Far East is quietly transforming into a frontier of foreign control — a striking sign of Russia’s decline and the shifting balance of power across Eurasia.
