North Korean laborers dispatched to China are still making clothing for South Korean and US brands, Daily NK has learned.
Daily NK recently obtained photos of clothing produced by North Korean workers at a factory in China.
The photos captured dozens of windbreakers, casual dress jackets and pairs of pants made by North Korean workers, including items sporting famous US brands.
In fact, there is a lightly padded windbreaker with the “Airwalk” label, with the triangular Airwalk logo on the left breast.
Airwalk is a clothing label owned by the US holding company Collective Brands.
However, Airwalk sells its trademark rights to several countries, with owners of the trademark sometimes manufacturing the clothing themselves. As such, it is unclear whether the items produced by the North Korean laborers was ordered by the US headquarters or by a company in another country like South Korea.
When South Korean or US companies produce clothing in China, some production stages are entrusted to subcontractors, with factories that employ North Korean workers receiving many of these subcontract orders.
Daily NK reported in 2021 that clothing items delivered to South Korea like Hazzys, The North Face, FILA and Le Coq Sportif are produced by North Korean workers in Chinese factories.
As recently as 2021, most items produced by North Korean workers in China were famous brands from South Korea, the US and elsewhere, but subcontract orders declined somewhat in 2022 as many global companies pulled out of China, a reporting partner in China told Daily NK, speaking on condition of anonymity.
However, the reporting partner said orders continue to come in from small and mid-sized South Korean and US companies.
In fact, the casual man’s dress jacket and pants in the photo above were ordered by a South Korean company.
When South Korean companies make subcontract orders, there are reportedly several rounds of checks because standards are high.
However, South Koreans have never themselves inspected a factory employing North Koreans. Instead, Chinese people who manage the subcontract orders take part in the inspections.
Most of the intermediaries who hand South Korean subcontract orders to factories employing North Korean laborers are ethnic Chinese business people, the reporting partner told Daily NK.
“All the factories in Liaoning Province employing North Korean laborers would have to close if it weren’t for orders from the US or South Korea,” he claimed.
“Orders from big companies have noticeably decreased, but factories can still run on orders from lesser-known small and medium-sized businesses.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of reporting partners who live inside North Korea. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.
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