Approximately ten North Korean construction workers in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, were recently repatriated for failing to meet state-mandated financial quotas.
A Daily NK source, speaking on condition of anonymity, reported that these workers were “sent back to North Korea early this month after being branded bad eggs for failing to deliver their state cash quotas for the first half of the year.”
The source revealed that the External Construction Guidance Bureau ordered in mid-July the “immediate repatriation of workers who failed to achieve state quotas for the last six months,” resulting in the workers’ return in early August.
An employee of a North Korean construction company in Nizhny Novgorod stated that the returnees “are not being treated as ideologically problematic, but they will be criticized when they return to the North and will have a tough time going overseas again.” The order was seen as “a warning to individuals, workplaces and entire companies that chronically fail to meet their quotas.”
The source attributed the workers’ failure to meet quotas partly to economic stagnation caused by the Russia-Ukraine war and restrictive North Korean policies.
“The COVID-19 pandemic and war hit the construction industry hard, with work for North Korean construction companies falling a lot this year compared to last year,” the source explained. “For North Korean construction companies to make money, they must sign subcontracts with various construction agents regardless of nationality, be it Russians, ethnic Koreans from the former Soviet Union, or South Koreans. Still, with North Korea telling companies to deal only with Russians, they cannot make money.”
The source concluded that as achieving state quotas became increasingly difficult due to these factors, workers were ultimately held responsible and repatriated to North Korea.
Laborers return home with used clothing
Before departing, the repatriated North Korean workers gathered discarded clothing and items from Russian apartment recycling sites to take home.
The source noted a stark contrast between these workers and North Korean consulate staff, who returned with expensive electronics and instruments. “The North Korean workers returned not with gifts for their families and friends but with clothing Russians had thrown away,” the source said.
“Several Russians sympathized and felt sorry for the North Korean workers who went abroad to earn foreign currency for the state but received not even a cent and took with them recycled items, unable to buy anything for their families.”
The North Korean construction company employee reported that “about 60 new North Korean workers will join the North Korean construction company in Nizhny Novgorod.” Remaining workers in Russia are reportedly anxious, interpreting this personnel change as “a warning about failing to meet state quotas.”
Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.
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August 21, 2024 at 06:00AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)