Small restaurants and factories in China that employ North Korean workers have recently restarted operations, but with new cases of COVID-19 on the rise in China, it may take more time before workplaces operated by North Koreans reopen.
According to a Daily NK source in China on Monday, North Koreans can be easily spotted wandering around downtown districts of certain Chinese cities such as Dandong, Liaoning Province, where most North Korean workers reside.
Most of these North Koreans, who move about in small groups of three to five, work in small restaurants or factories. Usually, they are out and about commuting to and from work. Their appearance on the streets comes as Chinese restaurants — now able to provide delivery and outdoor seating service — gradually reopen.
However, restaurants run by North Koreans themselves, such as the Ryu Gyong and Pyongyang Koryo restaurants, remain closed. It appears North Korean restaurants have yet to restart operations as Chinese quarantine policy forces major markets to remain closed while barring restaurants from offering indoor service.
Meanwhile, most North Koreans workers at clothing or electronics factories are still strictly forbidden from going outside, living as virtual prisoners restricted to their dormitories and workplaces.
The source said workers are forbidden from leaving their dormitory unless they are sent to isolation facilities after catching COVID-19.
In fact, when there was an outbreak at a dormitory for North Korean workers in Dandong in May, the infected were transported to a hotel in the nearby city of Shenyang.
Meanwhile, all North Korean workers residing in China reportedly underwent PCR testing this month in line with China’s “zero COVID” policy. Fortunately, none of them have tested positive.
With cases of COVID-19 on the rise in China as of late, Chinese authorities will likely delay lifting Dandong’s lockdown.
China lifts city lockdowns only after 14 continuous days with no new infections. On July 17, a single individual in Dandong tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, everyone in the city underwent PCR tests.
“I thought with the COVID-19 situation improving, all the big restaurants and factories run by North Koreans would soon reopen, but nobody knows when they will fully restart operations,” said the source. “North Korean workers have to worry about food because they have little on hand to eat, and I worry whether they will be able to endure much longer.”
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