North Korean authorities sent new workers to Russia ahead of the recent summit between Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Daily NK source in Russia said Wednesday that North Korean authorities sent hundreds of new workers to the Russian Far East in early June.
The new workers are military construction workers. Most of them have experience working in Russia before January 2020, when North Korea closed its borders due to COVID-19.
These workers served their mandatory military service as conscripts in their 20s and 30s doing construction work in Russia. By extending their military service, they have now returned to Russia as army officers of the rank of sergeant.
This means that although they were once low-ranking workers, they now manage small groups of enlisted laborers or play the role of freelance agents, generating work by linking North Korean companies with Russian merchants.
The workers are all sergeants and in their mid-30s. All are married and have at least one child. North Korean authorities typically force overseas workers to leave their families at home as hostages to prevent defections.
It appears that North Korean authorities resent workers with experience working in Russia, who use their expertise to reduce trial and error and earn foreign currency quickly.
Unlike workers at the bottom, military officers sent to Russia as managers or freelance agents can earn about USD 10,000 a year. Competition for the jobs was fierce, the source told Daily NK.
Laborers warned about consequences of accessing banned information
However, North Korean authorities are said to be quite concerned that workers with previous experience in Russia could easily access outside information via their cell phones or attempt defection.
For this reason, the workers underwent thorough ideological screening during the selection process. After selection, they went through several rounds of ideological training, and even after they arrived in Russia, they were warned not to use cell phones or the Internet. They also continued to receive ideological training.
“The workers have been warned several times that while they can use cell phones at the trading companies they are affiliated with to contact Russian traders, if they are caught using the Internet, the money they’ve earned will be confiscated and they will be immediately sent back to North Korea,” the source said.
However, the workers are eager to use the Internet, the source said, perhaps because they have had experience using cell phones during their previous stints in Russia.
In Russia, a used cell phone costs about USD 50. As long as the phone has a SIM card, it can make calls and access the Internet. Managers and even lower-level workers sometimes obtain cell phones by asking their colleagues in Russia, Uzbekistan, or elsewhere to get them.
Workers sent to Russia use their secretly acquired cell phones to watch South Korean news or TV shows or listen to South Korean pop music after they go to bed, the source said.
“People who have tried the Internet really want to get cell phones with Internet access,” he said. “Neither guns nor swords will stop them from using cell phones.”
Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons.
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July 15, 2024 at 07:00AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)