Growing garment subcontracting trade between North Korea and China is pulling young women into export garment factories in cities including Sinuiju, Nampo and Pyongyang this year. The jobs offer salaries, rations and extra benefits that are hard to find elsewhere, according to a source inside the country.
A Daily NK source in North Pyongan province said Wednesday that garment factories under trading companies, including Unha 7 Company and Pyongyang Jubong Company, have stepped up efforts to hire young female workers. Demand for their clothing orders from China has grown in recent months, the source said. These factories, subsidiaries of larger trading companies, employ between 300 and 1,200 workers each.
The factories import fabric and other materials from China, process them to order, and export the finished garments back to China. Each factory divides production into specialized stages, including cutting, sewing, ironing, packaging, and collar and hem work.
“A single worker doesn’t make a garment from start to finish. Because the work is divided by stage, employees can learn quickly and adjust to the job relatively easily,” the source said. “Factories are looking for many young women who have a good eye for detail and skilled hands.”
Women are flocking to these jobs largely because they offer far more benefits than typical workplaces, the source said.
“Besides a salary and food rations, the factories frequently supply daily necessities like soap and detergent, along with groceries,” the source said. “Workers who do night shifts also receive extra pay and snacks. Right now, only foreign currency earning operations offer women this much, so of course workers are flocking to these jobs.”
The chance to earn extra income from leftover fabric scraps or defective products generated during production has also made garment factory jobs more appealing.
As a result, more women from farming communities and mining regions are moving to cities in search of garment factory work. Some factories are actively recruiting workers from the provinces by offering room and board.
Women paying fees to skip official jobs
A growing number of women are also paying a monthly fee to their official workplace so they can skip work there entirely, while they actually work at garment factories instead, the source said. The practice echoes a wider pattern seen elsewhere in North Korea’s economy. Workers there pay their nominal employer a monthly fee, often called “8.3 money” after a 1984 directive that allowed side production, so they can skip work and earn income elsewhere.
“A lot of women now keep their names registered at their original workplace, but they actually work at garment factories after paying a monthly fee,” the source said. “Garment factories need extra hands, so if a worker’s background is verified, factories accept people introduced through relatives or personal connections and even provide room and board.”
The shift illustrates a broader change in the way North Korea-China garment subcontracting work gets done. It has moved away from household-based sewing teams, known as ganaeban, and other small-scale operations toward large factories run by trading companies.
“In the past, trading companies would bring in orders, and individuals would divide up the work at home or in household sewing teams,” the source said. “Recently, factories have been expanding their own workforce to produce directly. As cooperation between North Korea and China grows, so does the workload, and production is becoming more corporate.”
With North Korea-China trade continuing to expand, it remains to be seen whether the shift of female labor toward garment factories will accelerate further.
Reporting from inside North Korea
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August 21, 2026 at 02:28AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)