How North Koreans get rich on overseas labor jobs

Businessmen like Mr. Lee may see their prospects cut by an upcoming UN ban on DPRK workers abroad

Andrei Lankov January 15, 2018

Image: CPC_8943 by nknews_hq on 2016-10-05 14:07:00

The latest round of sanctions passed by the UN Security Council on December 22 include provisions dealing with the North Korean labor. According to the new rules, all DPRK workers must be withdrawn from UN member states within two years.

This gives me a good opportunity to talk about one such worker, and to see why there are good reasons not to be excessively happy about Resolution 2375. Let me introduce you to Mr. Lee, formerly one of 30,000 North Korean workers employed in Russian construction sites and timber camps.

About the Author

Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov is a Director at NK News and writes exclusively for the site as one of the world's leading authorities on North Korea. A graduate of Leningrad State University, he attended Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung University from 1984-5 - an experience you can read about here. In addition to his writing, he is also a Professor at Kookmin University.

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