Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
NK exploits 'slave workers' abroad
By Yi Whan-woo
The regime in North Korea has taken 90 percent of total monthly wages earned by 2,600 of its citizens working in Mongolia and Poland, according to human rights activists Wednesday.
The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights conducted case studies in Mongolia and Poland, both former communist states, since June to investigate human rights violations affecting North Korean workers overseas.
Speaking at a seminar in Seoul, Lee Seung-ju, a researcher at the Seoul-based human rights center, said the laborers mostly work at construction sites and toil for about 12 hours a day under harsh conditions, including severe weather.
There are 1,800 manual laborers from Pyongyang in Mongolia. They are forced to turn in about $650 every month to North Korean officials there, and that amount accounts for over 90 percent of their monthly earnings, Lee said.
The 1,800 workers usually take on additional work to make a living there and manage to earn an extra $100 or less on average per month.
In Poland, the North Korean authorities only spare $100 each or less for its 800 migrant workers per month while pocketing the rest of their wages for “taxation.”
“The $100 is equivalent to one tenth of the earnings made by each of the North Korean laborers,” Lee said. “We’ve also found out that the workers constantly face delays in receiving their pay and there should be relevant measures taken to improve this situation.”
Yoon Yeo-sang, head of the center, also said North Korea has pocketed up to $300 million annually from its 50,000 or more laborers forcibly sent abroad to prop up its tyrannical regime.
He said some 60 firms in 15 countries have been hiring cheap migrant workers from Pyongyang.
Yoon said the employers have refused to acknowledge their use of “state-sponsored slaves” from the Kim Jong-un regime and denied the existence of such employment.
“We’ve been told that North Korea has tried to hamper journalists and researchers from looking into the dire working conditions of its laborers,” Yoon said.
The revelation comes after growing concerns over human rights violations of North Korean workers amid U.N. economic sanctions against Pyongyang.
It is apparent that the cash-strapped regime has mobilized its people to earn foreign currency abroad.