Russia has picked 50 patriotic teenagers to attend a North Korean summer camp at no cost in the coming weeks, following a contest that saw hundreds of Russian youth explain why they want to visit the isolated country bolstering ties with Moscow.

Experts said the contest underscores the two countries’ efforts to revive youth exchanges, using such trips to develop people-to-people contacts, reinforce cooperation over the war in Ukraine and instill messaging about their shared opposition to the U.S.

The patriotic youth organization Movement of the Firstorganized the contest to send 50 teens to North Korea’s Songdowon International Children’s