North Korean workers in Russia are reportedly facing conditions akin to slavery, characterized by long working hours, inadequate wages, and poor living conditions, according to a BBC report published on Tuesday. The report drew on accounts from six defectors, researchers, and South Korean intelligence officials.
These laborers are monitored closely by North Korean security agents to deter any attempts at defection, a level of scrutiny that experts believe has increased as more North Koreans are expected to come to Russia for work.
Currently, it is estimated that around 15,000 North Koreans are working in Russia, primarily in the construction industry. This figure could potentially increase to 50,000 by the end of the year, despite a United Nations prohibition on hiring North Korean workers due to concerns that their earnings are appropriated by the North Korean regime.
Notably, almost 8,000 of the 13,000 North Koreans who traveled to Russia in 2024 reportedly used student visas to bypass the employment ban.
According to escapees, they were required to wake up at 6 a.m. and work until 2 a.m. the next day, receiving only two days off throughout the entire year. One defector remarked, “We felt as if we were truly dying.”
Despite being promised higher salaries than in North Korea, they reported having to pay “loyalty fees” to the government, ultimately receiving only $100 to $200 per month after returning home.
One individual expressed feelings of “shame” upon realizing that Central Asian workers doing similar jobs earned five times more with much lighter workloads.
The living conditions for these workers were described as overcrowded and infested with insects, with some residing in shipping containers and others sleeping on the floors of incomplete buildings.
Additionally, North Korean authorities have restricted the few opportunities workers have to leave their job sites. As per South Korean government data, the number of individuals fleeing from Russia to South Korea fell from 20 in 2022 to just 10 in 2023.
