Men to the Frontlines, Women to Factories... North Korea Sends Citizens to Russia for Foreign Currency Work

WSJ Analysis of Russian Consular Data
Number of North Korean Visas Issued Quadrupled Last Year

There are growing concerns that North Korea is sending not only men but also large numbers of women to hazardous regions within Russia to earn foreign currency, thereby exposing them to the risk of Ukrainian attacks.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 17th (local time) that, based on analysis of Russian consular data, 36,000 visas were issued to North Korean nationals last year. This figure is four times higher than the previous year.

On July 19 (local time), Choe Son Hui, North Korean Foreign Minister (right), met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin Palace in Moscow. Photo by Yonhap News Agency, Korean Central News Agency

According to North Korea sources, although most of these were student visas, they were likely issued as a cover to circumvent UN sanctions, which prohibit North Korean nationals from earning foreign currency.

According to a report from the Multinational Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT), which includes 11 countries such as South Korea, the United States, and Japan, currently between 15,000 and 30,000 North Koreans are working in Russia, each earning an average of USD 7,500 per year (approximately KRW 10.41 million). It is estimated that the North Korean authorities take as much as 80-90% of these workers’ wages. In total, North Korea’s overseas workers worldwide earned up to USD 800 million (around KRW 1.18 trillion) in foreign currency last year.

To further strengthen ties with Russia, North Korea has so far sent about 15,000 of its soldiers to the frontline in Ukraine. While the number of survivors has not been disclosed, hundreds of gravestones for fallen soldiers were reportedly erected in March.

North Korean women are mainly assigned to Russian factories that have experienced labor shortages due to the war. These factories are known to be located outside safe zones, amid ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Earlier this summer, more than 20 logistics warehouses operated by Wildberries—Russia’s largest e-commerce company—were struck by Ukrainian drones, resulting in at least nine fatalities. While Russia did not disclose the nationalities of the deceased, the WSJ reported that North Korean women were working at least one or more of these facilities.

Some North Korean nationals are reportedly working at Russian drone factories, as well as at various other manual labor sites, such as caviar processing plants. Russian company officials described North Korean workers as “disciplined, highly responsible, and diligent.”

Peter Ward, a research associate at the Sejong Institute, commented, “Kim Jong Un’s primary concern is not the lives of his citizens, but financial factors.” He analyzed that “North Korea’s deployment of female workers to Russian factories and logistics facilities, in addition to the traditional dispatch of male construction workers, reflects an attempt to diversify sources of foreign currency income.” He pointed out, “In order to strengthen alliances and earn foreign currency, North Korea is putting its own citizens at risk.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.