2024-05-09 10:20:19
Dissatisfaction is widespread due to wage issues and delays in returning home due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Group tours may have been allowed because it was President Kim Il-sung’s birthday on April 15.”
The Asahi Shimbun reported on the 9th that North Korean workers in Dandong, a border area between North Korea and China, went on an unusual sightseeing tour of the city as North Korea sought to strengthen solidarity in the wake of a series of riots and strikes by workers dispatched overseas for the purpose of earning foreign currency.
According to reports, on the 15th of last month, about 20 North Korean women were captured walking next to the China-North Korea Friendship Bridge, which connects to North Korea across the river in Dandong City, Liaoning Province, a border area in northeastern China. It is said that at the time, North Korean women were having pleasant conversations or taking commemorative photos.
Asahi said, “They appear to be factory workers dispatched to China by North Korea to earn foreign currency,” and added, “It is an unusual sight on the streets of China.” The newspaper also pointed out, “Group tours may have been specifically permitted because April 15th was the birthday of President Kim Il-sung, which is highly regarded in North Korea.”
Typically, North Korean workers dispatched to China are divided into work teams led by North Korean supervisors and remain isolated even from their employers upon arrival. Personal privacy is prohibited, and guests are restricted from leaving the accommodation without permission.
Since the beginning of this year, there has been a series of riots by North Korean overseas workers, who have been dissatisfied with wage issues and delays in returning home, and some are pointing out that the unusual city tour is a kind of appeasement to allay workers’ complaints.
The majority of North Korean workers working in Chinese factories are women, live in groups in dormitories, and engage in work such as manufacturing clothing and electronic components and processing marine products. Although there are cases where several people go out together on holidays, there is no freedom of action. Still, Asahi reported that he worked diligently and followed management.
North Korea has been opening the border, which had been closed for about 3 years and 7 months due to the coronavirus outbreak, on a limited basis since last year, but many workers are still not allowed to return to the country.
In some cases, the period of detention despite border closures due to the coronavirus outbreak has lasted for as long as eight years. Multiple officials who know the situation of factory workers told Asahi, “The mental stress and dissatisfaction of workers is increasing to its limit.”
Previously, in January of this year, about 2,000 North Korean workers rioted at a medical manufacturing plant in Helong City, Jilin Province, China due to accumulated complaints about non-payment of wages. In Dandong in February, dozens of North Korean workers refused to go to work under the condition of being sent home, and in the same month, dozens of North Korean workers dispatched to construction sites in the African Republic of the Congo reportedly rioted in protest against the postponement of their return home scheduled for February.
It is reported that the North Korean authorities pacified the workers by promising to pay wages that had been delayed for several months, while at the same time dispatching a large number of agents from the National Security Agency to the site to investigate factory executives and those involved in the riot, and to transport some of them to North Korea and punish them.
[서울=뉴시스]
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2024-05-09 10:20:19