As China’s demand for withdrawal blocked foreign currency earnings,
North Korea circumvents sanctions with student visas
It has been reported that our government is monitoring the trend of North Korea sending workers disguised as international students to Russia after signing a new treaty to upgrade relations with Russia in June. These workers are said to be heading to Russia on recently resumed North Korea-Russia passenger trains.
North Korea and Russia have stated in the new agreement that they will engage in “educational exchanges and cooperation,” but in reality, they are interpreting it as a document for illegally dispatching workers. In April, North Korea’s Education Minister Kim Sung-du visited Russia and discussed ways to increase the number of North Korean students in Russian educational institutions. Ultimately, as the sanctions against North Korea that prohibit the dispatch of North Korean workers have made it difficult to issue work visas, it appears that North Korea and Russia are starting to make full-fledged attempts to “illegally” dispatch workers using student visas, which have a longer period of stay than tourist visas.
According to a comprehensive report from the Dong-A Ilbo on the 19th, intelligence authorities have recently detected such close movements between North Korea and Russia. Cho Han-beom, a distinguished research fellow at the Institute for Unification Studies, also said, “Russia is said to be planning to pay wages in rubles through educational institutions,” adding, “However, I understand that there are some differences of opinion between employers and educational institutions due to issues such as fees.”
In particular, both inside and outside the government, it is believed that North Korea may have made a sharp change to its route of dispatching workers to Russia to earn foreign currency as the North Korea-China relationship worsens, with China demanding the return of all North Korean workers in China. Meanwhile, there are also observations that the conflict between North Korea and China will deepen further as North Korean authorities have recently ordered the personnel of the trade office in China to return home.
North Korea, with its route to China for ‘worker dispatch’ blocked, counterattacks by switching to Russia for earning foreign currency
“North Korean workers dispatched disguised as international students”
North Korea blocked from earning foreign currency – Russia lacks labor force… After the June treaty, the trend of dispatching workers becomes more blatant
North Korea orders Chinese trade representative staff to return home… blatant opposition to China’s ‘withdrawal request’
North Korea’s recent signs of sending a large number of workers to Russia are interpreted as a backlash to the abnormal atmosphere between North Korea and China, a kind of ‘balloon effect’. North Korea’s overseas worker dispatch is a violation of the UN Security Council’s North Korea sanctions resolution. Accordingly, North Korea is concentrating more than 90% of its total worker dispatch to its allies, China and Russia. However, as China took a hard-line response, demanding the return of all North Korean workers, North Korea appears to have turned to Russia to fill the gap in foreign currency earnings.
In particular, it has been reported that North Korean authorities have recently issued a large-scale repatriation order for personnel at trade offices in China. This is interpreted as a countermeasure to not be dragged around by China any longer amid the ongoing standoff between North Korea and China over the issue of dispatched workers.
● “Expanding the field of North Korean workers dispatched to Russia”
It is known that there are thousands to tens of thousands of North Korean workers dispatched to Russia. The UN Security Council’s North Korea Sanctions Committee also stated in a report this year that North Korea earns between $750 million and $1.1 billion annually by dispatching overseas workers. However, as the international community has been monitoring, the dispatch of new North Korean workers to Russia has been intermittent and small-scale.
However, since then, the interests of Russia, which was short on labor due to the war in Ukraine, and North Korea, which urgently needed to earn foreign currency, have aligned, and after the signing of the North Korea-Russia treaty in June, the dispatch of North Korean workers to Russia has become more blatant.
In particular, North Korea and Russia seem to have focused on student visas with longer stays than tourist visas as a means to fully launch illegal dispatches. After North Korea’s Minister of Education visited Russia in April to expand the student visa quota, they are reportedly taking steps to document cooperation in the field of education through a North Korea-Russia treaty in June and proceed with actual dispatches. The two countries stipulated in Article 12 of the new treaty that they would “strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the fields of agriculture, education, health, and tourism.” Cho Han-beom, a distinguished research fellow at the Institute for Unification Studies, predicted that “Russia will fully launch the illegal dispatch of workers disguised as students, claiming that it is ‘complying with international norms. ’”
North Korea and Russia, which resumed Pyongyang-Vladivostok air service in August last year, have recently resumed passenger train service between Nason and Vladivostok, creating an environment for secretly sending workers. There are also observations that additional “routes” for sending workers will be established, as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced after his summit with Chairman Kim in June that he had “signed an agreement to build a car bridge over the Tumen River.”
A high-ranking government source said, “North Korean workers were previously concentrated only in the (Russian) construction sector, but now they are expected to work in a wider range of regions and sectors.” This means that there is a high possibility that North Korean workers will now be deployed in all areas, beyond construction and agricultural work for the development of the Russian Far East.
● Discussions on dispatching North Korean and Chinese workers remain deadlocked
The period of stay for most North Korean workers dispatched to China has expired since last month, but discussions on dispatching workers between North Korea and China are still reported to be at a standstill. Meanwhile, it has been reported that North Korean authorities have issued an extremely unusual order to workers who earn foreign currency through trade in China to return home. It was previously reported that some workers dispatched to local restaurants and factories in China were ordered to return home last month, and now it has been reported that personnel at trade offices in China have also been notified to return home. Representative Cho also said, “I understand that trade workers stationed in China, such as in Dandong, have begun to enter in large numbers since the end of last month.”
North Korea’s request to send trade workers in, even at the risk of damaging its foreign currency earnings, appears to be a symbolic measure by North Korea to openly express its dissatisfaction in the midst of the conflict between the two countries. It has also been reported that Chairman Kim previously gave instructions to North Korean diplomats working in China to “not be concerned about China’s feelings.” Intelligence authorities also stated that “after the signing of the new North Korea-Russia treaty, we are closely monitoring the trend of replacement of North Korean personnel dispatched to China.”
Reporter Shin Gyu-jin [email protected]
Reporter Shin Jin-woo [email protected]
2024-08-21 02:01:49