SEOUL, South Korea — Andrei Lankov, a prominent Russian scholar on North Korea who teaches at a Seoul university, said he was expelled from Latvia after being detained during a lecture in the country’s capital. In a text message Wednesday, Lankov said Latvian police did not provide a reason for his detention late Tuesday in Riga, where he was delivering a lecture on North Korea. Lankov told the outlet he was still being held around 11 p.m. Moscow time, adding that lawyers were working on his case and friends were helping with logistics. In the 1990s, he worked in South Korea and Australia, and since 2004 has taught in Seoul. Lankov told RBK at the time that he learned about the case from journalists.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 25, 2026 10:18 UTC