The Russians of North Korea

The Russians of North Korea, numbering approximately 5,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an East Slavic people whose culture has developed across the vast landscapes of Eastern Europe and northern Asia, shaped by Orthodox Christianity, agricultural and frontier traditions, and strong state institutions They are an Diaspora people, with Russian as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Slav, Eastern people cluster of the Eurasian Peoples. Their primary religion is Eastern Orthodox Christianity. They primarily speak Russian.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Russian

Fast Facts*:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: North Korea
People Cluster: Slav, Eastern
Primary Language(s): Russian (rus)
Primary Religion(s): Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Population: 5,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007587
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Russians of North Korea

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

85%
%
Eastern Orthodox Christia… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Russian
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Russian Speakers

Media Resources in Russian:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film
The SaviorView Film

6 films

Bible Resources in Russian:

4 entries

Or check out the Russian bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Russians are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Russians:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Russians of North Korea

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.
readPsalm 67:4

Pray that those who are lost in darkness and confusion will come to understand God's ways, submit to His righteous rule, and experience the joy of His salvation.

“I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ to a nation that was not called by my name."
readIsaiah 65:1

Pray that the lost will be found by God, even when they are not seeking Him. Pray that He will reveal Himself to them in a way they cannot ignore and that they will respond in faith.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
readJames 1:2-3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will consider it pure joy when they face trials of many kinds, trusting in God's promise that the testing of their faith produces perseverance.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
read2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Pray that as people hear and believe the gospel, they will serve others in Jesus' name, and the lost will have an opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel.

Russian Across Countries (ROP3 - 108452) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

40 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▼Religion
RussiansRussiansKazakhstan4,540,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansAustralia28,500No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansMadagascar34,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansRussiansMozambique3,700Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansCuba22,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansVenezuela4,500Unengaged and UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansRussiansArgentina36,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansChile2,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansPeru1,400Unengaged and UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansRussiansCyprus96,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansNorth Korea5,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansRussian Federation108,420,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansRussiansBelarus776,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansUkraine7,035,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansCanada200,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansUnited States960,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansPoland14,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansCzech Republic42,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansAzerbaijan108,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansRussiansGermany260,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansEstonia330,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansBelgium64,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansFinland80,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansItaly39,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansNetherlands5,300Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansSvalbard1,200Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansSweden25,500Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansUnited Kingdom64,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansBulgaria14,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansAustria32,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansGeorgia27,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansKyrgyzstan370,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansLatvia507,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansLithuania155,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansMoldova132,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansTajikistan42,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansTurkmenistan111,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansUzbekistan549,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansChina19,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansRussiansFrance74,500Engaged yet UnreachedFrenchEastern Orthodox Christianity

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

*Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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