The number of North Korean workers newly dispatched to China has risen steadily since July, as improving relations between Pyongyang and Beijing revive a labor pipeline that stalled during the COVID-19 pandemic. But rather than concentrating large numbers of workers at a single site as in the past, factories are increasingly hiring smaller groups spread across dozens of locations.
According to a source inside North Korea who spoke to Daily NK on Friday, the number of newly dispatched North Korean workers arriving in China has noticeably increased since July. Those workers have been distributed among roughly 30 garment and seafood processing factories, mostly in the Chinese border cities of Dandong and Donggang in Liaoning province. Some of the factories had scaled back production or halted operations entirely after North Korean workers returned home during the pandemic, while others are employing North Korean labor for the first time this year.
Smaller crews replace mass placements
Industry insiders in China say the recovery in North Korean worker dispatches tracks the broader thaw in North Korea-China relations and the expansion of official trade between the two countries. Still, they agree the current scale of dispatch remains well below pre-pandemic levels.
In the past, a single factory typically employed at least 300 North Korean workers. Factories now signing new dispatch contracts generally take on around 150 workers each, the source said. While more factories are hiring North Korean labor overall, the number of workers placed at any one site has fallen.
It remains unclear whether the shift stems from Chinese government restrictions or from conditions set by North Korean authorities. Local observers offer competing explanations. One theory holds that even as bilateral relations improve, Chinese authorities are wary of admitting workers on the same scale as before all at once, opting instead to expand dispatch gradually and adjust the pace as circumstances allow.
“There’s talk that just because relations have improved doesn’t mean [China] will let in hundreds of workers at once like before,” the source said. “The view is that they’re opening the door little by little and adjusting the scale depending on the situation.”
Others point to a broader shift in how Chinese factories use North Korean labor. Rather than relying heavily on North Korean workers as the core of their workforce, factories are increasingly using them to supplement a base of Chinese employees. That approach limits the risk of losing most of the labor force at once if conditions change. During the pandemic, restrictions on the movement and dispatch of North Korean workers left some factories short-staffed and disrupted production.
“If a factory staffs its entire workforce with North Korean people, it risks losing that labor all at once if social or political problems arise,” the source said. “That’s why some factories keep local workers as the base and fill in with North Korean workers only where replacements are possible.”
Dispersal raises the cost of oversight
If the trend toward smaller, scattered placements continues, it is likely to complicate how North Korean authorities manage workers abroad. Concentrating large numbers of workers at a handful of factories makes it easier to station minders alongside them and control their movement and daily lives. Spreading workers across many smaller sites, by contrast, requires more personnel and greater expense to maintain the same level of supervision.
“Dispatches of North Korean workers to China are likely to continue,” the source said, “but whether this returns to large-scale placements at single sites, as in the past, or continues as smaller groups spread across many locations, is something we’ll need to watch a little longer.”
Reporting from inside North Korea
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September 15, 2026 at 06:12AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)