A delegation from the DPRK visited the Land of the Leopard National Park for the first time

For the first time, a delegation from the Ministry of State Territory Protection and the Environment of the DPRK visited the Land of the Leopard National Park in the Primorsky Territory of Russia. The visit of specialists took place from September 23 to September 30, 2026 under the auspices of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia, according to the agency's website. The trip was organized in preparation for the second meeting of the Subcommittee on Environmental Protection of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the DPRK.

Foreign experts got acquainted with the environmental infrastructure in the Khasan municipal district. The program of the stay included a visit to the oldest reserve "Kedrovaya Pad", the deer park on the Gamovsky site, as well as the waters of the Far Eastern Marine Reserve. Representatives of the national park held lectures for colleagues on methods of accounting for the number of animals, photomonitoring and individual identification of individuals by characteristic features, in particular by the unique pattern of spots on the predator's skin.

Joint monitoring plans

"We have already noted traces of the presence of big cats in the DPRK. We are interested in the Russian experience in studying and protecting the Far Eastern leopard and Amur tiger and intend to develop cooperation with Russian colleagues in this area," said Kim Gwang Ho, head of the Department of Environmental Protection at the relevant Ministry of the DPRK.

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The press service of the Land of the Leopard noted that colleagues from the DPRK expressed their willingness to conduct research on their territory. Scientists suggest that North Korea's proximity to the Russian national park creates conditions for rare predators to live there or for their regular cross-border movements. Joint monitoring will make it possible to establish the exact boundaries of the modern range of leopards and tigers, which historically inhabited the entire Korean Peninsula.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, in 2026, the population of the Far Eastern leopard in the Land of Big Cats cross-border reserve, which unites the territories of Russia and China, exceeded 200 individuals. The successful experience of cooperation with China is planned to be used in cooperation with the DPRK. The parties have already discussed issues of protecting the habitats of large predators and assessing the recreational burden on ecosystems.

Cooperation is reaching a new level

As specified on the website of the TOI Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the visit of the delegation also contributed to strengthening cooperation in the field of marine environment protection. Experts paid attention to assessing the impact of anthropogenic factors on coastal ecosystems, which is an important part of the work of the intergovernmental commission.

Contacts with experts from the DPRK were the first in 14 years of the existence of a specially protected natural area. Earlier, the specialists of the national park emphasized the importance of international cooperation for the conservation of populations of rare species in Northeast Asia. The first meeting of the relevant Russian-Korean sub-commission was held in 2025, but then it was held in a remote format due to existing restrictions.

During the visit, Russian scientists confirmed their readiness to provide methodological assistance to colleagues from the DPRK in organizing a photomonitoring system. The use of automatic forest cameras will allow documenting the presence of leopards and tigers in the adjacent territory, which will be a key step in expanding the international monitoring network of rare cats in the region.