North Korea is recruiting more workers to send to eastern regions of Ukraine occupied by Russia, Daily NK has learned.
A source in North Korea told Daily NK on Friday that the authorities have already completed their second round of worker selections, and are now conducting another selection after they received a request for more personnel.
“The competition is fierce,” he said.
Daily NK reported last month that North Korea planned to carry out a second round of worker selections from Nov. 1.
In fact, the authorities carried out the second round of selections from early November, but with more slots recently opening, the authorities are carrying out additional recruitments. However, just how many additional workers are being recruited remains unknown.
The source said Pyongyangites are only interested in politically safe places where they could make money; they are avoiding areas where they might be able to pay dues to the state but make no money of their own.
“Most of the volunteers are people from the provinces,” he said.
N. KOREA MAY CONDUCT A THIRD ROUND OF WORKER RECRUITMENT
Relatedly, the international community is criticizing the alleged inhumane treatment North Korean workers receive when sent overseas, including wage exploitation. Despite the miserable conditions in which North Korean workers must toil when sent overseas, however, many North Koreans are applying for the jobs, hoping to earn an opportunity to head abroad and make money.
“[The authorities] plan to send those selected in the second round overseas before the Lunar New Year next year,” said the source.
“They plan to make a decision on the third round of selections after checking how much money the first and second round selections are bringing in,” he added.
However, the workers scheduled to be sent to Ukraine in early November are reportedly still in North Korea. Daily NK was unable to find out why they have yet to leave.
Daily NK does understand, however, that the workers will be overseas for at least two years, and possibly for up to seven years.
The source said the workers received “official two-year passports.” With those passports, they can stay overseas for up to four years by “extending their visas twice a year.”
Given that only the country of residence has the authority to extend a visa, the “visa” mentioned by the source likely refers to the period of validity of the North Korean passports.
The source said the maximum extension term for the “visas” was seven years. “The authorities will look at the situation after four years and decide whether to replace the workers or extend their visas,” he added.
TO AVOID SANCTIONS, WORKERS WILL BE DIVIDED INTO TEAMS
The selected workers currently on standby will likely be sent to Russia through overland routes.
“North Koreans call going overseas to work ‘leaving for reclaimed land.’ Those leaving from Pyongyang are scheduled to go to Tumangang, Khasan, Ussuri and Khabarovsk, and from there they will split up and head all over Russia,” the source said.
“Depending on the situation, they could divide up at Ussuri, heading off to Magadan, Chita, Moscow and elsewhere,” he continued, adding, “Where they will be dispatched shall be decided after they arrive in Russia.”
Adopted in December of 2017, United Nations Security Council Resolution 2397 bans the dispatch of North Korean workers overseas. North Korea may be drawing up plans to split up its workers and send them to several locations to avoid the watchful eye of the international community.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
