North Korea appears to be pulling out all
\nthe stops to secure funds for the May Party Congress, requesting a Chinese
\ncompany hiring its workers to prepay salaries and encouraging longer working
\nhours. This comes as Pyongyang faces a reduction in cash from its restaurants
\noverseas following international sanctions and a recent group defection of
\nworkers to the South. <\/p>\n
\u201cAfter receiving strong demands from the The Chinese firm usually sends most of the These female employees not only have long The North Korean authorities have also \u201cThe company recently signed a contract An additional source familiar with the Workers are usually hand picked from \u201cThe company doesn\u2019t even allow the workers The prepaid wages have now added more North Korea appears to be pulling out all the stops to secure funds for the May Party Congress, requesting a Chinese company hiring its workers to prepay salaries and encouraging longer working hours. This comes as Pyongyang faces a reduction in cash from its restaurants overseas following international sanctions and a recent group defection of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":32580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[645],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nNorth, a Chinese fisheries company [name redacted to protect the source] in
\nDandong, which employs about 200 North Korean workers, wired six months\u2019 worth
\nof their wages to Pyongyang,\u201d a source with knowledge of North Korean affairs
\nin China said, asserting that the move was to help the regime secure more money
\nfor the upcoming Party Congress.<\/span> <\/p>\n
\n500 USD allotted for each worker\u2019s wages to Pyongyang, and the remaining 150
\nUSD is handed over to the North Korean manager to distribute to the employees.
\nHowever, recently, even the smaller proportion of those wages is not being
\nreliably received. \u201cBecause of that I\u2019m hearing more of the female workers say
\nthey would prefer to return to the North than stay in China,\u201d the source said.<\/span> <\/p>\n
\nworking hours but normally only get two days off per month and are rarely
\nallowed to take leave, even if they are ill.<\/span> <\/p>\n
\nexpressly permitted this Chinese company to extend working hours from 12 to 13
\nin order to make more money off their workers. Facing reduced funds from its
\npreviously lucrative restaurant operations, the North appears to be turning to
\nits other workers abroad to make up for the shortage.<\/span> <\/p>\n
\nwith Japan, so it has extended its hours to 13 in order to get the packaging
\ndone on time, and the North has given its tacit consent,\u201d the source said. \u201cThe
\nextra wages for this were handed over to the North Korean manager, but the
\nworkers didn\u2019t see any of it.\u201d<\/span> <\/p>\n
\nsituation in Dandong explained that many of the workers are unhappy with the
\nstrict schedule that requires them to work from 5am to 6pm without proper rest.
\nThe employees operate in units of ten members each, all living together in a
\nsingle room. Getting leave to exit the compound, leave work early, or receive
\ntreatment if they\u2019re sick is \u201cunthinkable,\u201d as the chances of receiving
\npermission from their manager is remote, said the source.<\/span> <\/p>\n
\nPyongyang and other major cities on contracts with Chinese companies.
\nInitially, hope abounds as they think good money can be earned, but they
\neventually become resentful of the leadership, as their wages are low compared
\nto the labor required, and they face strict regulations in every facet of their
\ndaily lives, the second source stated.<\/span> <\/p>\n
\nto talk freely as they work, saying the goods need to be packaged with the
\nutmost quality for exports,\u201d said the source. \u201cThe North Korean authorities are
\naware of this, but rather than supporting its workers, it simply seeks to appease
\nthe demands of the Chinese firm.\u201d <\/span> <\/p>\n
\nstrain on the workers. Having already been paid for full working hours, the
\nNorth Korean manager is forcing employees to work even if they are sick. \u201cSome
\nhave fallen so ill that they have asked to be sent back home, but they\u2019ve been
\nturned down with no room for consideration,\u201d the source lamented.<\/span> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"