North Korean diplomats in Russia have been recently returning to the North with cutting-edge appliances and pricey musical instruments in their personal luggage, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source in Russia told Daily NK recently that a number of North Korean construction workers in Russia were dragooned into packing the personal luggage of North Korean consular staff ordered to return home at the beginning of July.
The consular staff heading back home are diplomats with the foreign ministry who have been serving in Russia for at least four years.
Diplomats’ belongings reveal wealth disparity
The luggage they packed for the journey home includes not only the typical clothing, shoes, bags, cosmetics and blankets but also large numbers of home appliances in their possession, including washing machines, refrigerators and big screen televisions.
The workers called up for the moving job were amazed that all the consular staff seemed to have brand-new models of the sort rarely seen in ordinary North Korean homes. They were also astonished at the profusion of top-shelf musical instruments, including pianos, accordions, violins and flutes.
“One worker recalled that each consular staff member had a shipping container measuring 12 meters (about 39 feet) long, 2.5 meters (about 8 feet) wide and three meters (about 10 feet) high at their disposal, but even that apparently wasn’t big enough to hold all their furniture and appliances,” the source said.
The source explained that the containers loaded with the consular staff’s possessions will be shipped to the port of Wonsan and then transported to Pyongyang.
The consular staff were able to afford the latest furnishings, despite the steep price tags, because of their lucrative foreign currency earnings.
Russia is a cash cow for N. Korean diplomats
Daily NK’s source said that North Korea and Russia are expanding cooperation in the economy and various other areas, giving North Korean consular staff there more opportunities to earn foreign currency than diplomats assigned to other countries. As a result, foreign ministry officials prefer assignments to Russia.
Daily NK previously reported that North Korean consular staff in Russia deliver letters and cash from North Korean workers to their families back home in exchange for a 25% – 30% fee.
However, the North Korean workers who were mobilized to pack the personal luggage of the consular staff apparently did not receive any compensation for a full day’s work.
“It was basically a volunteer job, since we didn’t get anything after working all day long. Nobody would willingly take on such drudgery, but you can’t say no to the company managers when they ask you to come in,” the source said.
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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August 06, 2024 at 07:00AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)