As part of measures to improve North Korea’s low birth rate, the country’s authorities plan to limit the dispatch of young, childless women to China for work, Daily NK has learned.
A source in China told Daily NK on Thursday that North Korea is trying to bring home its workers in China at an early date, given that they have been unable to return for so long due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“But since they are thinking of choosing older people [to send overseas as workers], it’s likely that young women won’t be able to leave [as workers] again,” he said.
“North Korea’s leadership thinks that with the nation’s population so low and nobody having children, it would cause an even bigger problem to send young women overseas,” the source continued, adding, “Since few people have two children nowadays, the nation is adjusting who it sends overseas as workers to deal with the problem.”
In fact, North Korea’s low birth rate is growing into an increasingly serious issue.
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)’s “State of World Population 2022” report published in March of this year, North Korea’s total fertility rate per woman — that is, the average number of children a woman would be expected to give birth to during her lifetime — was 1.9. This number is below replacement level, i.e., the number of children needed to maintain the current population, and far below the total fertility of other developing countries.
In fact, women in their 20s account for a high percentage of North Korean workers at Chinese clothing factories and sewing shops. In particular, the source noted that these young women – many of whom are unmarried – often left North Korea in their early 20s, and have since been unable to return to North Korea.
North Korea appears to believe that sending young women of marriageable and child-birthing age overseas hurts the country’s birth rate. Because of this, the country is moving to limit the dispatch of young women overseas, choosing relatively older women or women with children instead.
“North Korea is going to put age limits on its selections, and will tell people who want to become overseas workers to have children before they apply,” the source explained.
Many countries that suffer from low birth rates operate various incentive systems to raise fertility rates. However, North Korea’s government instead appears to be trying to resolve low fertility by violating labor rights, including restricting opportunities for women to work abroad.
Meanwhile, many North Korean workers in China reportedly suffer from psychological disorders, something North Korea’s government blames on the “youthfulness” of the workers.
“Many young workers have been suffering psychological issues during the COVID-19 pandemic, with some undergoing treatment and others not,” said the source. “However, North Korea’s government thinks the psychological issues are due to the workers being young. [That’s another reason] why they’re going to choose workers in their 30s or older.”
Daily NK previously reported — quoting a source in China — that a growing number of North Korean workers who have been in China’s Jilin Province and Liaoning Province for extended periods of time are receiving treatment for psychological disorders such as depression and lethargy.
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