67% of SMEs willing to replace foreign workers with North Koreans, survey shows

By Jung Hae-myoung

If North Korea were allowed to send workers to the South, 67 percent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) here are willing to replace foreigners with North Koreans, a survey showed on Sunday.

The main reason was “communication difficulty” (68 percent) followed by “cultural differences” (15 percent). Fourteen percent of respondents said North Korean workers would be “more productive” than foreigners.

The Korea Social Research Center conducted the survey from July 3 to 20. Leaders or senior executives of 600 SMEs responded.

But they pointed out some issues making them reluctant to hire North Koreans.

The biggest challenge was “administration and immigration process” (31.8 percent), followed by “North Korea’s unstable political situation” (31.7 percent) and “huge difference between the two countries’ economic systems” (29.2 percent).