A recent report claimed that thousands of North Korean workers employed in China still refuse to abandon their jobs. A United Nations (UN) mandate had set the deadline for repatriation of North Korean overseas workers by Sunday.
According to the report, there are about 100,000 North Korean workers mostly in China and Russia that continues to provide a vital source of revenue for North Korean President Kim Jong Un's regime. United States government estimates showed that Pyongyang generated $500 million USD in annual taxes from North Korean workers.
However, by virtue of the UN resolution that urged North Korean workers working overseas to come home after the country launched missile tests in 2017. Since then, it was demanded that by December 22, 2019, all North Koreans would need to come home which would result in reducing the flow of foreign currency into their country.
However, researchers claimed that workers remained in China thereby undermining the efforts of pressuring the North Korean president to give up his nuclear weapons. According to a North Korean expert at the Sejong Institute Cheong Seong-chang, there had been no sign of workers withdrawing their employment in China and continue to refuse to leave the country and abide by the UN mandate. Despite these workers' refusal to leave their overseas work, government officials from Beijing claimed that they are abiding by the new UN sanctions.
The report also indicated that Beijing claimed to have employed 50,000 North Koreans last 2017. They were said to be employed in construction, textile, and manufacturing industries mostly in north-east China.
According to North Korea's former deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom Thae Yong Ho, there are legal loopholes that allowed these North Korean workers to continue their work in China without having to secure working visas.
Thae said that the visa system between North Korea and China compels North Korean workers to secure work permits if they wish to be employed in China. However, if they have been staying in the country for more than 90 days, the work permit requirement may be lifted.
It was also revealed that when the North Korean workers reach the last allowable days of their work visas, they would need to go back to North Korea and restart their shift in their home country if they wished to continue their employment in China.
In other news, it was discussed that the UN Security Council in December 2017 imposed sanctions after North Korea tested a long-range missile against the rules of the UN. As a result, the UN urged all North Korean workers to repatriate from foreign territories within a period of 24 months. The said deadline takes effect this Sunday, December 22, 2019.
