North Korean Workers Sent to Russian Factories in Breach of UN Sanctions, Rights Group Alleges

A Hague-based rights group says a Pyongyang-sponsored broker network placed North Koreans, some at factories supplying Russia's Ukraine war effort, taking much of their wages under threat — allegations Moscow and Pyongyang have not accepted.

Awaaz Punjab Investigations Desk29 October 20263 min readRead in all 3 languages

A Russian network of brokers sponsored by Pyongyang has taken North Korean workers to work in Russia in exploitative conditions and in violation of UN sanctions, some of them at factories that turn out items Moscow uses in its war in Ukraine, the Hague-based rights group Global Rights Compliance (GRC) said in a report released on Thursday, October 29, according to Reuters. The findings are the group's allegations, based on its own nine-month investigation; Russia and North Korea have not accepted the claims.

Source: Reuters

GRC said North Korea reaps funds from the operation, taking much of the wages earned by workers who are sent to Russia and made to stay under threat of retribution, Reuters reported. The group said it based its findings on open-source information about the operation run by a Russian businessman, facial recognition technology used to identify North Korean officials, and evidence gathered by its members posing undercover as prospective employers.

South Korea's Aju Press, reporting the same GRC investigation, said the network operates an online platform called KNDR.su and recruits North Koreans who enter Russia on student visas. It reported that investigators were told orders are accepted in groups of at least 50 workers, with a commission of 100,000 to 150,000 rubles per worker — yaani roughly 90,000 to 1.35 lakh rupees at the rates cited in that report — and that the platform advertised 12-hour days with only two days off a month.

Source: Aju Press

"This investigation exposes a dangerous convergence between two states' military ambitions," GRC legal adviser Elise Lauriot Prevost said, describing North Korea's use of overseas forced labour to finance its weapons programme and Russia's growing reliance on labour to sustain its war economy, Reuters reported.

Russia's foreign ministry and the North Korean embassy in Moscow did not respond to Reuters' emails seeking comment. GRC said it contacted two Russians it identified as key figures in the network; only one replied, denying the accusation, Reuters reported.

Russia and North Korea have deepened military and political ties since their leaders pledged renewed cooperation at a 2023 summit, and a mutual defence pact is a cornerstone of a partnership treaty signed the following year, Reuters reported. South Korea's intelligence agency has said North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops since 2024 to fight alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, along with weapons — claims that form the backdrop to the new labour allegations.

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