North Korea pulls out trade workers amid conflict with China
It seems like they are trying to do business in China.
It is known that intelligence authorities are keeping an eye on North Korea’s tendency to dispatch North Korean trade representatives who returned from China to Russia. While the North Korean and Chinese authorities are attempting to improve relations behind the scenes ahead of the launch of the ‘Trump second term’, it appears that the North Korean authorities are trying to send trade workers taken out of China to Russia to fill the gap in foreign exchange earnings.
According to Dong-A Ilbo’s coverage on the 12th, intelligence authorities are tracking the North Korean authorities’ moves to send hundreds of trade representatives who returned from China last year to Russia. Intelligence authorities believe that this move is due to differences of opinion between North Korea and China on the issue of North Korean dispatched workers.
It is known that the Chinese authorities have a stubborn stance on the issue of dispatched workers, such as not granting visas to new workers trying to enter China. Last year, Chinese authorities demanded that all North Korean workers in China whose stay in North Korea expired be returned to North Korea.
Although North Korea’s dispatch of workers overseas violates UN Security Council sanctions resolutions against North Korea, North Korea is known to have unofficially dispatched tens of thousands of workers to China and Russia respectively. The UN Security Council estimated last year that North Korea was earning between $750 million and $1.1 billion (approximately 1.1 trillion to 1.6 trillion won) annually by dispatching workers overseas.
When the Chinese authorities not only demanded the return of North Korean workers in China but also blocked the dispatch of new North Korean workers, North Korea is said to have unusually brought back most of the personnel of its trade representative in China at the end of last year in protest against China. Jo Han-beom, Distinguished Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said, “North Korea’s trade workers are doing business, but since China does not provide them with many conveniences, it appears that Pyongyang is trying to divert the shrinking business in China to Russia.” The National Intelligence Service also said, “We are tracking the re-dispatch trends of trade representative personnel who returned from China,” and added, “We understand that there has been a conflict between North Korea and China regarding workers.”
In order to earn foreign currency, North Korea has been pioneering a new route to dispatch workers to Russia instead of China, with which it has been in conflict since last year. In April last year, North Korea’s Education Minister Kim Seung-doo visited Russia to discuss ways to increase the number of North Korean students at Russian educational institutions, and the new treaty between North Korea and Russia in June last year also stipulated ‘exchange and cooperation in the field of education.’ Afterwards, workers disguised as international students headed to Russia. As it is difficult to issue work visas due to sanctions against North Korea, North Korea and Russia have begun attempts to expediently dispatch workers by using student visas, which have a longer stay than tourist visas. The National Intelligence Service reported to the National Assembly Intelligence Committee in October last year, “(This year) there are about 4,000 North Korean workers dispatched to Russia, and their salary is estimated to be around $800 (approximately 1.2 million won) per month.”
As passenger trains between North Korea’s Duman River Station and Russia’s Khasan Station resumed on December 16 last year, there are also predictions that the dispatch of North Korean workers to Russia will increase significantly this year. Chair Research Fellow Cho analyzed, “In a situation where there is little demand for travel to North Korea, the opening of the North Korea-Russia train is actually intended to transport North Korean workers by train.”
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![[단독]“Hundreds of trade representatives brought back from North Korea and China… “Push for re-dispatch to Russia to earn foreign currency.”](https://dimg.donga.com/a/180/101/95/2/wps/NEWS/IMAGE/2025/01/13/130847045.1.jpg "[단독]“Hundreds of trade representatives brought back from North Korea and China… “Push for re-dispatch to Russia to earn foreign currency.”")
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