Modern slavery
How North Korea exploits its citizens in Russia
Thousands of North Koreans are sent to Russia to work in inhuman conditions. Their lean wowers feed the boxes of the Kim Jong-Un diet.
North Koreans work in Russia in inhuman conditions. Their misery wages fill the boxes of the dictator Kim Jong-un.
Getty Images
- Each year, thousands of North Koreans are sent to Russia to fill the shortage of labor.
- The Russian authorities are bypassing the UN ban by delivering student visas to workers.
- The workers work up to eighteen hours a day and sleep on the ground or in unhealthy containers.
Thousands of North Koreans are sent each year to Russia to work in conditions close to slavery. They come to overcome the serious shortage of exacerbated labor by the war of aggression led by Russia in Ukraine.
According to the BBCNorth Korea, which maintains close political links With Russia, sends more and more workers on Russian territory. This information is confirmed by South Korean experts and government officials.
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Many Russians have gone to war. They fled the country or fell in battle. Moscow calls on North Korean workers to fill the shortage of labor. In 2019, the United Nations prohibited the sending of North Korean workers in order to reduce the revenues of the Kim Jong-un, which are used to finance its nuclear programs. The Russian authorities, however, circumvent this ban by issuing student visas, which allow workers to enter the territory.
In Russia, jobs in the building are very popular because they promise better remuneration than work in North Korea. Most workers go in the hope of escaping poverty and being able, on their return, buying a house for their family or creating their business. Only men deemed the most reliable are retained after a rigorous selection. They must abandon their family behind them.
Brainwashing and forced work for workers
The BBC interviewed six North Koreans who have left Russia since the start of the war. Their testimonies reveal inhuman working conditions.
One of them, Jin, says that he was escorted from the airport to a construction site by a North Korean security agent, who ordered him not to speak to anyone or to look at anything.
The agent said: “The outside world is our enemy”. Jin had to get to work immediately and participate in the construction of skyscrapers at the rate of eighteen hours a day.
All those questioned mention working days starting at 6 am and often ending at 2 am, with only two days off per year.
“The most terrifying is the awakening, when we realize that we will relive the same hell as the day before,” says Tae, who managed to escape last year. His hands were so tense when he couldn’t open them. Another worker, Chan, tells he was beaten by the supervisors when he tried to rest: “We had the impression of dying.”
“Loyalty tax” in Kim Jong-un
Men also said they were locked up and monitored on construction sites by North Korean security agents. They had to sleep on the ground or in unhealthy and overcrowded containers.
Work safety is almost nonexistent. “At night, the lights are extinguished. They work in the dark, with very little equipment, ”explains Kang Dong-Wan, professor at Dong-A university in South Korea.
A worker named Nam explains that he fell four meters. Injured in the face, he found himself unable to work. Despite his condition, his superiors have forbidden him to go to the hospital.
Most of the income generated by these workers in Russia are paid directly to the North Korean state, in the form of a “loyalty tax”. The workers only perceive between 80 and 160 Swiss francs per month.
However, this money is only paid to them only to their return to North Korea. It is probably a tactic aimed at preventing Flood attemptsexperts say.
Friendship between Russia and North Korea
After numerous attempts to escape, the North Korean authorities have further restricted workers’ freedom. Men are sometimes required to follow ideological training and participate in so-called “self-criticism” sessions, during which they must reaffirm their loyalty to the Dictator Kim Jong-un. The rare outings in town are also controlled. While before the workers could go there, they must now travel in groups of five and are closely monitored.
Despite the strengthening of controls, some escape attempts have resulted. Tae decided to flee after discovering on YouTube the salaries of the South Korean workers. One night, he discreetly left his project and traveled thousands of kilometers to reach a lawyer, who helped him join Seoul.
Jin fled when he learned that the state was likely to confiscate his savings to him when he returns. However, fewer and fewer from North Koreans manage to go to the South Korean capital. The number of arrivals has halved since 2022.
Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un like to display their friendship.
Vladimir smirnov/AFP
Andrei Lankov is a professor at Kookmin University in Seoul and expert in relations between North Korea and Russia. According to him, “North Korean workers will remain a lasting heritage of friendship between Kim Jong-Un and Vladimir Putin during the war”. Workers are expected to be employed in Russia even long after the end of the war.
Translated from German by Laura Antonietti.
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