North Korea has doubled the foreign currency quotas required from workers sent overseas. This change will likely force North Korean laborers abroad to endure even harsher working conditions.
“North Korea ordered monthly quotas for construction workers in Russia’s Sakhalin to double from 62,000 rubles per person,” a Daily NK source in Russia said recently. “Because of this order, laborers are being forced to work even longer hours to meet the quota.”
The situation is similar in the Chinese city of Dalian. A source in China reported that North Korean workers in Dalian seafood processing plants “had their foreign currency quotas doubled following a March 10 order from North Korea.”
“Workers now face an even heavier burden due to North Korea demanding they pay double the previous monthly amount of 3,400 yuan per person,” the source added.
According to sources in both Russia and China, North Korea is demanding increased “loyalty money” from overseas workers, citing this year as the “final year of the Eighth Party Congress.”
The North Korean authorities told companies managing laborers in Sakhalin and Dalian that the order represents a “patriotic movement to earn foreign currency to make the final year of the Eighth Party Congress shine as a great celebration of victory.”
To meet these increased state payments, North Korean laborers in Sakhalin and Dalian must work longer hours.
“The government already takes most of what North Korean construction workers earn, so saving money was already difficult,” the Russian source said. “Now that authorities have doubled the loyalty cash quota for the ‘final year of the Party Congress,’ workers complain they won’t see a penny even if they work themselves to death.”
The Chinese source said North Korean workers “had planned to work for two or three years and return home after saving enough to get married, but because of these ‘loyalty cash’ payments, they worry they’ll never be able to return with enough savings.”
North Korean workers have no recourse to protest the state’s exploitation of their earnings. Chinese citizens who witness their situation often express sympathy.
“Young female North Korean workers must obey their supervisors and endure without proper compensation,” the Chinese source said. “Chinese people who are aware of the North Korean workers’ miserable circumstances feel very sorry for them.”
