This time last year, North Koreans working abroad were supposed to return home from far-flung construction sites, restaurants and other businesses, where they labored away for small pay but an often-coveted seat abroad.

The U.N. had enacted a ban on DPRK migrant workers in hopes of limiting Pyongyang’s revenue streams, and the deadline to leave was set for Dec. 22, 2019 after a two-year grace period. The ban was just one part of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2397, which was unanimously passed in Dec 2017 after a series of North Korean missile tests.