North Korea is actively considering a plan to increase security personnel monitoring its overseas workers by up to four times current levels, particularly those deployed to Russia and China. This move appears aimed at strengthening surveillance as overseas workers increasingly attempt to access outside information and defect.
According to a source in North Korea recently, the Ministry of State Security is reviewing plans to significantly expand overseas security personnel. Regions with large numbers of deployed workers, particularly Russia and China, could see up to a four-fold increase in security staff, while third countries in the Middle East would strengthen their two-person surveillance teams.
Previously, one security officer managed 300-500 workers, but cases of foreign content consumption, illegal cell phone use, and defection attempts have made this arrangement unmanageable.
The Ministry of State Security has begun overhauling the surveillance system, planning to draft an initial proposal by August and finalize it by Sept. 9 (North Korea’s founding day).
North Korean authorities have historically operated overseas security personnel very restrictively. To save on surveillance costs and resources, they deployed far fewer security officers relative to the number of workers. In practice, just one or two security officers have been responsible for monitoring and managing hundreds of deployed workers.
“Originally, the purpose overseas was to earn money, so the principle was to keep surveillance personnel to a minimum,” a source explained. “But recently, many workers have become ideologically compromised, and there are increasing attempts to secretly connect with the outside world, so internally they concluded that current staffing levels are insufficient for surveillance.”
Expanded surveillance and informant networks
The scope of surveillance items is also expanding. North Korea revised its “Regulations on Life Control for Foreign-Deployed Workers” in February 2025, reportedly including ▲subversive speech and behavior ▲leisure activities in dormitories ▲contact with outsiders ▲unauthorized cell phone use ▲SIM card purchases in monitoring targets. Even borrowing locals’ phones for calls is now punishable unless for emergencies.
“Security officers have no time to rest. Mornings are for roll call, daytime for touring work sites and organizing intelligence gathered from informants, and nights for surprise dormitory inspections,” the source said. “They also have to file weekly reports to superiors, so it’s chaotic.”
The source added, “If surveillance fails and defectors or problem individuals emerge, it becomes entirely the individual security officer’s responsibility. In the worst cases, they’re recalled home and face party expulsion, dismissal, or removal from position.”
Meanwhile, North Korea has moved beyond simply designating some workers as “unofficial monitors” (informants) before overseas deployment—they now require written pledges.
“This goes beyond simple contracts to create an official, systematic surveillance structure,” the source explained. “Getting pledges isn’t just about surveillance—it creates pressure by saying ‘you promised to be loyal to the party and state.'”
North Korea has already established a structure where informants are planted among overseas workers to prevent mutual trust. By keeping workers uncertain about who reports what and when, they’ve created an atmosphere preventing workers from watching foreign content together or planning escapes.
“North Korea seems to view workers as subjects requiring ideological management without the slightest gap,” the source noted. “They come to work but are surveilled all day, with every word and action reported. People say they feel suffocated, and this approach may only build more resentment.”
Excessive surveillance of deployed workers is also causing pushback from local companies. A construction company in Moscow recently complained to North Korean counterparts about “reduced productivity due to excessive interference,” prompting North Korea to issue internal guidelines for restraint.
