About 70 North Korean employees, most of them over the age of 60, have been despatched to the Russian metropolis of Blagoveshchensk within the Amur area.
Talking on situation of anonymity, a supply in Russia mentioned Tuesday that folks in Blagoveshchensk name the employees “outdated Korean folks.”
The employees do inside work that requires talent somewhat than energy, comparable to plastering partitions, laying tiles and wallpapering.
“These North Korean employees say they got here to Russia on visas for agricultural employees, however the truth is they seem to have come as overseas college students or underneath another standing,” the supply mentioned.
When it turned harder to subject work visas due to United Nations Safety Council Decision 2397, which prohibits North Korea from sending employees abroad, many North Korean employees started working in Russia on pupil visas and different momentary visas, the supply mentioned.
The supply mentioned a few of the North Korean employees have been in Russia for 5 to 10 years. They seem like employees who returned to North Korea in 2019 and re-entered Russia on pupil, cultural change or analysis visas.
“Resulting from sanctions requiring the repatriation of all North Korean employees overseas by December 2019, employees in Russia returned residence, however managers within the Russian building sector say North Korea later despatched them again to Russia after they obtained pupil visas for them to get across the sanctions,” the supply mentioned.
The North Korean employees in Blagoveshchensk, who’ve been in Russia for 5 to 10 years, fall into this class, the supply mentioned.
The North Korean employees toil from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., however obtain solely 10,000 to 12,000 rubles ($110-130) a month.
“Every employee was initially allotted a wage of 150,000 rubles a month, however the North Korean firm that manages them takes a lot of that as dwelling bills and state quotas,” the supply mentioned. “So that they survive on about 10,000 to 12,000 rubles.”
Since North Korean employees can’t spend rubles in North Korea, they hoard the cash they obtain and attempt to change it for {dollars} earlier than returning residence. Nonetheless, as a result of the change charge is far increased than it was earlier than COVID-19, it’s way more tough for them to take residence giant quantities of cash.
Earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic, the change charge was 60 rubles to the greenback, however now it’s round 90 rubles to the greenback.
“A number of employees are pondering of defecting as a result of they might find yourself penniless after a few years of working overseas,” the supply mentioned.
Every day NK works with a community of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For safety causes, their identities stay nameless.
Please ship any feedback or questions on this text to dailynkenglish@uni-media.internet.
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