Russia-based North Korean garment companies are busy trying to fulfill a significant surge in orders from local clients, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, a Daily NK reporting partner in Russia said Wednesday that production at North Korean garment companies in Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk in the first quarter was double that of 2022’s first quarter.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korean garment companies in Russia shut down onsite operations and sent small teams of workers in shifts to construction sites or other places to do odd jobs. However, with the recent flood of orders from Russian clients, the companies are busier than ever.
The increase in orders has allowed the companies to meet the foreign currency quotas imposed on them by the North Korean authorities and pay monthly wages to their workers.
“One factory affiliated with the leading North Korean garment company in Irkutsk has about 70 workers, while another North Korean garment company in Krasnoyarsk has about 100 workers,” said the reporting partner. “Russian businesses used to order lots of military clothing, but these days they are placing a lot of orders for construction overalls and ordinary clothing.”
The manufacture of military clothing is more profitable than ordinary clothing for the general public. Russian businesses had long placed orders for military clothing at North Korean garment factories, but workers at these factories no longer boast good needlework skills. This has led Russian clients to focus on commissioning the production of work clothes for construction sites or clothing for the general public.
“I understand that the brunt of the increase in the orders [this year] was for ordinary clothing,” said the reporting partner. “Russian clients say they won’t order the processing of expensive, intricate garments like military clothing until North Korean seamsters get better at what they do.”
The North Korean workers lack the necessary skills “because all the workers left their country with the aim of making money, and only about 10% of them are professional seamsters. What’s more, the existing workers were not rotated out even once during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with such little work to do, they had few opportunities to improve their skills,” the reporting partner explained.
Worried that orders might fall off due to quality issues and that they may not be able to fulfill their foreign currency quotas, North Korean garment companies in Russia are focused on production during the day and providing training to their workers at night, the reporting partner said.
“North Korean garment companies are trying to meet the demands of their Russian clients, even forcing teams to work all night to remake poor quality items. Some workers are being driven to do so much work that they sleep just four hours a day.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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