By Jun Ji-hye
Qatar will not renew work permits of North Korean workers and will return almost all of them to Pyongyang by early next year, reports said Thursday.
The Qatari government told Radio Free Asia (RFA) that 1,000 North Korean laborers are currently working in Qatar, noting it expects them to return home soon as most of their work permits will expire in the first half of next year.
The move comes after Kuwait ordered North Korean Ambassador So Chang-sik and four other diplomats, Sept. 17, to leave within a month, cutting in half the size of the North’s diplomatic mission. It also decided to stop issuing visas to North Korean passport holders.
The measures made by Middle East countries are construed as them complying with a request from the U.N. Security Council and the United States to cooperate in vigorously implementing a new sanctions resolution against the North.
Last week, the UNSC unanimously approved the resolution, eight days after the Kim Jong-un regime’s sixth nuclear test, signaling a swift response by the international community.
The RFA said the Qatari government has denied allegations it hired North Korean workers to construct its World Cup stadium, but admitted some construction companies employed them on other occasions.
Sending workers overseas has been one of the key sources for the impoverished state to earn hard currency.