News & Insights

Tag: Labor

  • Hundreds of N. Korean workers hired by Russia’s largest online retailer, Wildberries

    Hundreds of N. Korean workers hired by Russia’s largest online retailer, Wildberries

    Russia’s largest online retailer, Wildberries, is thought to have hired hundreds of North Korean workers, Russian media outlets reported recently, despite the wide range of economic sanctions imposed by the international community.

    “Hundreds” of North Korean nationals have been hired by the company, the English- and Russian-language news outlet the Moscow Times reported, citing a report by media platform RTVI. Addressing the allegations, Wildberries acknowledged what it called a pilot project to hire foreign workers but did not elaborate on their nationalities.

    The claims stem from two videos of workers alleged to be North Koreans wearing Wildberries work apparel, which reportedly appeared in a group chat for employees of the retailer’s warehouse in the city of Elektrostal in Moscow Oblast, western Russia.

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    Link to Video

    Map Elektrostal, Moscow

  • Russia Turning to North Korea to Help with Labor Shortage

    Russia Turning to North Korea to Help with Labor Shortage

    Russia has been suffering from significant labor shortages in its civilian and defense industrial sectors since the start of its war with Ukraine. North Korean has sent several thousand workers to work in civilian sectors, but it is marginal and will not significantly alleviate Russia’s labor shortages. Russia reportedly has an estimated labor shortage of 1.5 million workers as of December 2024. We can expect many thousand more North Koreans to arrive and work in Russia.

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    In October last year, the NIS had said in a briefing that about 4,000 North Korean workers were already believed to be in Russia, with each worker being paid a monthly stipend of approximately $800.

    Russia may be recruiting North Korean workers to fill gaps in the construction industry created by its prolonged aggression against Ukraine, according to Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Wi Sung-lac, who was Seoul’s ambassador to Russia.

    “I think North Korean workers may have been recruited to make up for the labor shortages after many were drafted for the war,” Wi told The Korea Herald on Sunday.

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  • North Korean special economic zone poised for revival in new Russia trade

    North Korean special economic zone poised for revival in new Russia trade

    “Rason, the oldest and largest of North Korea’s 29 economic development zones, has been central to the country’s push to attract foreign investment. It has one of North Korea’s first and biggest markets, was the site of the country’s first mobile network, and is the only place where North Korea legalised buying and selling homes in 2018, according to experts and North Korea’s government publications. Once a North Korean experiment in limited capitalism, the Rason Special Economic Zone appears to be the epicentre of the isolated country’s growing cooperation with Russia, experts say, including possible shipments of arms for the war in Ukraine.

    In recent months, there have been clear signs that the area is poised for a comeback, with ships docking there for the first time since 2018, and satellite imagery suggesting a spike in trade from both the port and a rail line to Russia.

    Although China – with its vastly larger economy and deeper historic ties with North Korea – might seem the obvious driver of a recovery in Rason, experts say the country’s deepening cooperation with Russia may make a more immediate impact.

    “Now that North Korea and Russia are becoming very close against the backdrop of the Ukraine war, Russia might send more tourists to North Korea, which can reinvigorate tourism (in Rason),” said Jeong Eunlee, a North Korea economy expert at South Korea’s government-run Korea Institute for National Unification.

    More at Reuters:
    https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-korean-special-economic-zone-poised-revival-new-russia-trade-2023-11-29/