Thousands of North Korean women are being advertised for labor work by a Russian recruitment agency, despite UN sanctions against the isolated nation.
Up to 2,000 workers a week had reportedly been listed by the St Petersburg-based Startaff firm for ‘sewing industries, agricultural complexes, and for finishing and painting work’.
North Korea has previously been suspected of supplying tens of thousands of workers to fill gaps left in Russia’s labor industry due to the number of casualties President Vladimir Putin has suffered in the war with Ukraine.
Some who managed to escape described working 18-hour days, being ridiculed by Russian coworkers who called them “machines that can speak” while being kept in “prison-like conditions”, South Korean intelligence claimed in August.
This latest listing runs afoul of UN Security Council Resolution 2397, banning North Korean nationals from earning overseas income and demanding the return of such workers by the end of 2019.
Instead of following this ruling, the Russian agency states it is willing to swiftly dispatch its workers to any area in the country’s northwest region at a rate of 900 rubles ($10.80) per person per hour.
Unique Kim, a researcher with the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB), spoke with NK News, highlighting how this development signals female workers are now being used as currency between Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin.
“The emergence of such advertisements may align with the recent expansion of economic cooperation, with Russian entities seeking North Korean labor in sectors beyond construction,” she said.
Kim added that North Korean laborers “remain subject to transnational repression,” aligning with the claims made by escaped workers last month.
She explained that North Korean workers often “enter Russia without work permits,” allowing firms such as Startaff to “profit by brokering their labor.”
“These firms typically charge commission fees, which, combined with deductions by North Korean authorities, further diminish workers’ wages,” Kim continued.
A BBC report claimed Pyongyang pockets the majority of the workers’ earnings, marking them down as “loyalty fees”.
Kim claims that such advertisements as the one depicting 2,000 female North Korean workers would have been set up through state-owned operations, “even if the postings obscure these affiliations.”
Startaff, the company offering the service, was founded in August 2022 by Sergei Reznikov and has generated $16.6million in revenue last year, according to tax records uncovered by NK News.
As of December, more than 570 people were employed by the company, which deals in recruitment, cargo handling, construction, and the fruit trade.
A Russia researcher at South Korea’s Dongseo University, Chris Monday believes Startaff’s openness about the scheme “shows how little Vladimir Putin cares about Western and South Korean opinion”.
Chris adds that “prominent figures” in Russia have encouraged employing more North Koreans as repayment for Kim Jong Un’s willingness to donate troops to Russia’s frontline efforts against Ukraine.
“With many men away at the front or wounded, the Kremlin may be hoping to ease social tensions by inviting primarily female North Korean workers,” he noted.
Meanwhile, a study published on Thursday (September 18) contested that Russia enjoys the better half of a lopsided deal with North Korea, reaping far greater benefits than Pyongyang, according to the German think tank Friedrich Naumann Foundation.
It adds that Kim Jong Un has delivered up to $9.8bn worth of weapons, as well as fighters and workers to Putin since 2023, while netting as little as $457m to $1.19bn in return.
Despite shipping millions of artillery shells, rockets, and mortar rounds, as well as hundreds of artillery systems, launchers, and more than 15,000 troops, the report states, “no substantial inflows of hard currency into North Korea can be observed; financial transactions appear largely locked within the Russian banking system.”
Pyongyang has received limited aid, mostly consisting of food, fuel, air defence systems, and possibly some fighter aircraft.
