N.Korea Dispatches Wave of Female Workers to China...　Over 100 Sent from Hyesan in December　"Mothers with children selected to prevent defection"

Since December, women from North Korea's Ryanggang Province have been departing in waves to work in China as laborers. The dispatch of North Korean workers overseas is prohibited under UN Security Council sanctions aimed at stopping North Korea’s nuclear and missile development. Russia primarily accepts male workers for construction labor and similar work. (ISHIMARU Jiro / KANG Ji-won)

◆ Groups of 30-40 Women Depart for China on a Consecutive Basis

Reporting partner A, a resident of Ryanggang Province, reported in mid-December that groups of 30-40 women have been departing for China as dispatched workers since early December. Additionally, a trade official living in Changbai County, Jilin Province, across from Ryanggang Province, told ASIAPRESS: "North Korean female workers have been entering consecutively since early December. Already more than 100 have come."

Reporting partner A provided the following details:

Q: What kind of people are going to China?

They're selecting 5-7 people each from enterprises like the shoe factory, beer factory, and copper mine in Hyesan city to form groups and send them to China. They're selecting mothers with children to prevent them from running away. They volunteered because life in North Korea isn't improving at all. The children were crying when they left.

An acquaintance who was barely getting by making wigs 10 hours a day went too. Some others are young women from different regions who will work at restaurants in China. The People's Committee (local government) continues providing 10kg of food rations per month for those working abroad, so it helps the families left behind.

Exit permit fees cost 300 yuan (about $39 USD), but so many people want to work in China that everyone pays bribes to go.

◆  Monthly Income About $65 Suggests Severe Exploitation

Q: What kind of visa do they use to stay in China? How much do they receive in compensation?

The visa is referred to as an "educational trainee" visa. I don't know how much the women who went this time will receive, but someone who returned from China last year said they received 500 yuan per month (about $65 USD) and could send remittances from China.

※　Considering that the current monthly wage level for ordinary North Korean workers is 35,000-50,000 won (about $0.92-$1.32 USD), income from China is exceptional. However, Chinese companies pay the North Korean side about 2,500 yuan (about $325 USD) per person per month for labor costs, indicating the Kim Jong-un regime is conducting severe exploitation.

※　Based on the exchange rate of 10,000 North Korean won = 0.263 USD (in mid-December).

◆ Strict Surveillance in China Makes Escape Impossible

Q: How does the China dispatch process work?

Those who departed this month were people selected starting in September. Unlike before, when selection took six months to a year, it has become much faster. Going to China has become more common. Several people around me have gone.

I heard the People's Committee Labor Bureau does the selection, the Ministry of External Economic Affairs handles dispatch procedures, and the Kangseong Trading Company connects workers with Chinese enterprises.

Q: Aren't authorities worried about people running away after leaving?

Everyone knows it's not easy to go to other countries from China. Word is spreading (in North Korea) that China is full of surveillance cameras, you're monitored the moment you step outside, and you're caught immediately (if you try to escape). People who returned from China also say the strictly managed, disciplined life (in China) makes escape impossible.

Q: Where in China do they work and for how long?

They go to the Shenyang and Changchun areas to work at clothing factories, packaging plants, assembly factories, etc. They work for 6 months to a year and then rotate. Since the period isn't long, they don't have much luggage and depart with just a backpack.

◆ China Violates Sanctions, Kim Jong-un Regime Runs Exploitation Business

A trade official in Changbai County described the situation on the Chinese side:

"The broker mediating North Korean worker dispatches said over 100 entered China in December alone. Many companies in Changbai County also want to use North Korean workers due to labor shortages. They explored having them commute daily from Hyesan, but the North Korean side demanded guarantees of room and board with a minimum 6-month stay, which didn't make financial sense. So they're putting them on buses as soon as they enter Changbai and sending them to companies in big cities like Shenyang."

The increased dispatch of workers to China is due to China turning a blind eye to sanctions violations. China's northeast region faces severe labor shortages, creating high demand for North Korean workers who are cheap and work well. Meanwhile, what the Kim Jong-un regime expects is, needless to say, foreign currency earnings.

※ ASIAPRESS communicates with its reporting partners through Chinese cell phones smuggled into North Korea.