North Korean Workers Aid Russia in Breach of U.N. Sanctions

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has provided a new form of support to Russian President Vladimir Putin: migrant laborers, The Gaze reports citing The Wall Street Journal. 

As Russia struggles with a severe labor shortage, made worse by war casualties, emigration, and a declining birthrate, North Korean workers are increasingly stepping in to fill the gaps.

South Korea’s intelligence agency reported that Pyongyang has sent around 15,000 workers to Russia, many entering under student visas. In 2024, the number of North Korean arrivals rose twelvefold compared to the previous year, according to Russian data.

A growing number of these workers are employed in Russia’s Far East, a region close to the North Korean border that the Kremlin has long sought to industrialize. While their presence violates United Nations sanctions prohibiting overseas North Korean labor, Moscow and Pyongyang have openly ignored these restrictions.

North Korean laborers are particularly prized by Russian employers for their low wages and strong work ethic, often putting in 12-hour days without protest. “The more, the merrier,” said Andrei Orlov, director of a Moscow-based construction firm that expects to employ 300 North Koreans. “I’d like my company to be a Russian market leader in attracting North Korean specialists.”

North Korea is also supporting Russia in its war on Ukraine, sending an estimated 12,000 troops last year and another 3,000 this year. Pyongyang has also supplied weapons, including the ballistic missile that killed 12 people in Kyiv in April. Putin recently praised the countries’ relationship as one “forged on the battlefield.”

Despite official Russian claims of U.N. compliance, over 120 companies in Russia were found to be employing North Korean workers as of a 2024 U.N. report. Some government officials, like Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, have floated plans to use North Korean labor in reconstructing war-damaged territories under Russian control.

These overseas jobs, though controversial, are highly coveted in North Korea. Workers reportedly keep a small portion of their earnings—between $100 and $200 per month—while the regime pockets the rest. 

Zane Han, a former North Korean construction worker who defected in 2022, said he bribed officials for a visa and endured heavy scrutiny from police until enforcement began to fade. “It became clear that the police weren’t interested in inspecting us anymore,” he said.

In 2024, Russia issued over 8,600 student visas to North Koreans, while only 130 were officially enrolled in Russian universities, revealing the widespread use of education as a pretext for labor entry.

As The Gaze previously reported, South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) disclosed that North Korean forces stationed in Russia to assist in the war against Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region have sustained over 4,700 casualties.