News that broke last week involving renowned North Korea expert Andrei Lankov has rattled the foreign community in South Korea. The Russian-born scholar was unexpectedly blacklisted by Latvian authorities during a recent trip to the Baltic state. Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University in Seoul and director of Korea Risk Group, the parent company of NK News, was detained by local police and immigration officers shortly before he was to give a lecture, titled "North Korea: What the Leaders Want and Fear," in Riga, the Latvian capital. Latvian immigration authorities later deported him to Estonia. Several Russian media outlets first reported the incident. Korean and English-language news sites subsequently covered the story, citing those reports. The news came as a surprise to many. Born in Russia, Lankov is a dual citizen of Russia and Australia and is widely regarded as one of the leading North Korea experts, with rare first-hand experience in both Koreas. Before settling in South Korea in 2004 to teach at Kookmin University, he studied at North Korea’s elite Kim Il Sung University