A number of North Korean laborers trapped abroad during the pandemic have fled their official workplaces and made a living through freelance work, in many cases eventually seeking safety in South Korea, according to a new U.N. report released Wednesday. 

The report by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, based on 110 interviews with ”escapees” from the DPRK and “other stakeholders” from March 2021 to Jan. 2023, also found that overseas North Korean workers were required to pay as much as 90% of their salaries to the state and had “virtually no freedom of movement.”