{"id":32827,"date":"2016-06-25T11:58:53","date_gmt":"2016-06-25T02:58:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.dailynk.com\/en\/?p=32827"},"modified":"2020-01-17T08:51:14","modified_gmt":"2020-01-16T23:51:14","slug":"brutal-punishment-for-laborers-cau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/brutal-punishment-for-laborers-cau\/","title":{"rendered":"Brutal punishment for laborers caught fleeing in Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n <o:OfficeDocumentSettings>\n  <o:AllowPNG\/>\n <\/o:OfficeDocumentSettings>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n <w:WordDocument>\n  <w:Zoom>0<\/w:Zoom>\n  <w:TrackMoves>false<\/w:TrackMoves>\n  <w:TrackFormatting\/>\n  <w:PunctuationKerning\/>\n  <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt<\/w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>\n  <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt<\/w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>\n  <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0<\/w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>\n  <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0<\/w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>\n  <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas\/>\n  <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false<\/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>\n  <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false<\/w:IgnoreMixedContent>\n  <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false<\/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>\n  <w:Compatibility>\n   <w:BreakWrappedTables\/>\n   <w:DontGrowAutofit\/>\n   <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables\/>\n   <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx\/>\n  <\/w:Compatibility>\n <\/w:WordDocument>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState=\"false\" LatentStyleCount=\"276\">\n <\/w:LatentStyles>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><\/p>\n<p><!--[if gte mso 10]>\n\n\n<style>\n \/* Style Definitions *\/\ntable.MsoNormalTable\n\t{mso-style-name:\"Table Normal\";\n\tmso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;\n\tmso-tstyle-colband-size:0;\n\tmso-style-noshow:yes;\n\tmso-style-parent:\"\";\n\tmso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;\n\tmso-para-margin-top:0in;\n\tmso-para-margin-right:0in;\n\tmso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;\n\tmso-para-margin-left:0in;\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\n\tfont-size:12.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;\n\tmso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}\n<\/style>\n\n\n<![endif]--><\/p>\n<p><!--StartFragment--><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"bbs_caption1_box\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/efile\/201606\/DNKE_1700_243575_1466822738_i.jpg\"><br style=\"line-height:6px;\"><a class=\"bbs_caption1\">North Korean laborers working at an apartment construction site in the Ussuriisk region north of Vladivostok, <br \/>Russia. At Russian worksites, North Korean laborers are regularly mobilized in small groups, but make <br \/>up a minority of the&nbsp;workforce.When Daily NK approached the workers, they became visibly concerned<br \/>&nbsp;and cautious. However, in response&nbsp;to questions in Korean, the two laborers answered<br \/>&nbsp;that they both hailed from Pyongyang.&nbsp;<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Last month, Daily NK dispatched a special coverage team<br \/>\noverseas to investigate reports of human rights abuses involving North Korean<br \/>\nlaborers in China, Russia, and Mongolia. Daily NK\u2019s special coverage team<br \/>\nlearned that some laborers dispatched to Russia to work were allegedly caught<br \/>\nafter an escape attempt and severely punished. The State Security Department [SSD] officials charged with monitoring the site responded to the incident by<br \/>\ntorturing the escapees, before forcibly repatriating them to North Korea.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">According to testimony given to Daily NK at the end of the<br \/>\nmonth by North Korean laborers in Russia, escapees who are apprehended face<br \/>\nextremely ruthless punishment in order to deter future attempts by others. In<br \/>\none such example, a laborer had his Achilles tendon severed by the authorities.<br \/>\nIn another case, the laborers were forced to lie down and had their legs broken<br \/>\nwith a construction excavator. Upon their return to North Korea, these<br \/>\nhandicapped laborers and their families are sent to political prison camps.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">One laborer sent to the coastal province of Khabarovsk,<br \/>\nRussia, at the beginning of the year testified to Daily NK, \u201cPreviously, a<br \/>\nworker fled from the worksite and hid out in a nearby church, where he was<br \/>\nlater discovered and caught. The SSD agents used a huge excavator to crush him.<br \/>\nHe was denied proper medical attention thereafter and became disabled. It\u2019s<br \/>\nimpossible for these SSD agents to forgive an escape attempt and so they made<br \/>\nan example out of him.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">He continued, \u201cThe last time we saw our colleague in<br \/>\nquestion, he was skin and bones, injured, and had nothing but a simple bandage<br \/>\non his leg. He was forcibly repatriated in that condition. This is not an<br \/>\nunusual or rare occurrence. Some laborers who try to escape have their Achilles<br \/>\ntendon cut, and others are beaten with pieces of lumber. These kinds of escape<br \/>\nattempts happen from time to time, but even if the laborers manage to flee, it<br \/>\nis very difficult for them to survive. They have no choice but to wander<br \/>\nabout.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cHowever, since this is Russian soil [and not North Korea],<br \/>\nNorth Korean State Security Department agents shouldn\u2019t even have the authority<br \/>\nto detain people, let alone break people\u2019s legs,\u201d the source added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">A source from a separate worksite in Russia corroborated these<br \/>\nallegations, stating that while North Korean workers sent to Russian<br \/>\nconstruction sites are permitted relative freedom of movement in order to<br \/>\ncomplete their tasks, the authorities create an atmosphere of terror by using<br \/>\nextreme punishments, including the breaking of bones, to discourage all escape<br \/>\nattempts. This additional source confirmed that upon their return to North<br \/>\nKorea, transgressors\u2019 families are rounded up with them and sent to political<br \/>\nprison camps.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cBesides escape attempts, there are other infractions that<br \/>\ncan earn laborers a return trip to North Korea and a prison term. They can<br \/>\nsuffer this fate, for example, if they complain about back pay being withheld.<br \/>\nIndividuals who complain about unfair conditions are quietly called in and told<br \/>\nthat they will be put on \u2018leave.\u2019 In reality, they are repatriated and<br \/>\nimprisoned,\u201d the source explained. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">As one individual affiliated with construction in Ussuriysk<br \/>\nput it, \u201cThe Russian government intended to make it extremely difficult for the<br \/>\nNorth Korean authorities to put handcuffs on their fellow countrymen whilst<br \/>\ninside Russia. However, the North Korean authorities have responded by<br \/>\nresorting to horrifyingly inhumane measures to control their workers.\u201d &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"bbs_caption1_box\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/efile\/201606\/DNKE_1701_243575_1466823299_i.jpg\"><br style=\"line-height:6px;\"><a class=\"bbs_caption1\">North Korean laborers wait for transport at Vladivostok Airport.<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Detention centers have been set up in isolated areas near<br \/>\nworksites to inflict punishment on laborers who express dissent.&nbsp;A<br \/>\nmissionary in Russia who has had contact with numerous North Korean laborers<br \/>\nreported that strict surveillance and beatings are used to threaten the<br \/>\nworkers, discouraging them from escaping or dissenting, saying, \u201cThose who<br \/>\ndissent are thrown in these detention centers, where they endure particularly<br \/>\ncruel punishment.\u201d &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cThe workers who are sent abroad do not even have the slightest<br \/>\nunderstanding of the concept of human rights. They simply try to live on the<br \/>\nmoney they are given for their work. They risk their lives and endure<br \/>\nconditions we would consider unfit for animals,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Sources have also pointed out that life is extremely<br \/>\ngrueling even for the laborers who work hard and follow all instructions. In<br \/>\nsuch extreme work environments, simply caring for one\u2019s own health is a daily<br \/>\nchallenge. The high-intensity work environment is fraught with numerous risks<br \/>\nand ever-present dangers. Those who are injured while working are forced to pay<br \/>\nout of pocket for any treatment. The vast majority of the laborers are<br \/>\ntherefore unable to receive proper treatment for their injuries. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">In particular, workers who are forced to take time off to<br \/>\nseek treatment must pay a prohibitive fine or have their wages confiscated.<br \/>\nThis is in addition to contributing the majority of their monthly earnings to<br \/>\nthe Korean Workers\u2019 Party. Those who cannot afford the fine or medical<br \/>\ntreatment have no choice but to watch their wounds become infected.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">A South Korean business representative in contact with North<br \/>\nKorean laborers in the Vladivostok region spoke of frequent macabre humor among<br \/>\nweary workers, who find solace in the notion that their death results in a<br \/>\nsmall payout for their families. \u201cThey accept that the value of their own life<br \/>\nis less than that $1,000,\u201d he lamented.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">He recounted an example from a few years ago, involving a<br \/>\nfatal fall of an overseas worker, in which the enterprise responsible collected<br \/>\n$10 from each of the laborers and amassed a sum of $2,000. In the event of such<br \/>\ntragic accidents, half of the fund is used for the worker\u2019s funeral and the<br \/>\nother half is sent to the family.&nbsp;\u201cAlthough they collected these funds<br \/>\nfrom the workers, the manager didn\u2019t contribute a single penny. The manager who<br \/>\nwas onsite at the time of the fall was responsible, but he ordered everyone to<br \/>\nclaim that he was absent on the day of the accident,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><i><br \/>\n*This article has been brought to you with support from the Korea Press Foundation.<\/i>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><!--EndFragment--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>North Korean laborers working at an apartment construction site in the Ussuriisk region north of Vladivostok, Russia. At Russian worksites, North Korean laborers are regularly mobilized in small groups, but make up a minority of the&nbsp;workforce.When Daily NK approached the workers, they became visibly concerned&nbsp;and cautious. However, in response&nbsp;to questions in Korean, the two laborers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":32829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Brutal punishment for laborers caught fleeing in Russia - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/brutal-punishment-for-laborers-cau\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Brutal punishment for laborers caught fleeing in Russia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"North Korean laborers working at an apartment construction site in the Ussuriisk region north of Vladivostok, Russia. At Russian worksites, North Korean laborers are regularly mobilized in small groups, but make up a minority of the&nbsp;workforce.When Daily NK approached the workers, they became visibly concerned&nbsp;and cautious. 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At Russian worksites, North Korean laborers are regularly mobilized in small groups, but make up a minority of the&nbsp;workforce.When Daily NK approached the workers, they became visibly concerned&nbsp;and cautious. 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