North Korea has begun sending skilled garment workers to China in a bid to boost foreign currency earnings, with plans to expand the program in the coming months.
“The government has recently been exploring ways to send workers overseas to bring in more foreign currency. As part of that, Mount Myohyang Joint Venture sent some skilled workers at Aeguk Myohyang Garment Factory to garment factories in China,” a source in Pyongyang told Daily NK recently, speaking anonymously.
According to the source, Mount Myohyang Joint Venture sent ten seamsters and sewing technicians, each with five or more years of experience, from Aeguk Myohyang Garment Factory to work at a garment factory in the Chinese city of Hunchun, Jilin province, at the beginning of August.
Mount Myohyang Joint Venture said that the skilled workers sent to China were told to focus on adjusting to life in Hunchun and that their work performance would be periodically reviewed in the future.
“To help the skilled workers adjust to their new situation and maximize their output, Mount Myohyang Joint Venture plans to set up a supervision system for the first month and then provide various training programs to help the workers rapidly adjust to local conditions. After demonstrating their work efficiency on the ground, the company intends to send more workers,” the source said.
Mount Myohyang Joint Venture plans to send two or three groups of regular workers from Aeguk Myohyang Garment Factory, with ten workers in each group, in September. The source said these additional workers will be chosen from those with three or more years of experience.
In connection with these plans, Aeguk Myohyang Garment Factory has been ordered to arrange the workers’ departure schedule to coincide with the planned assignment in China and to provide rigorous ideological training in advance.
The factory has also been ordered to forge a cooperative relationship with the Chinese garment factory and find ways to quickly resolve any issues that may arise with North Korean workers on assignment there.