North Korea Sends Up to 100,000 Workers Abroad, Including to Russian Drone Factory

North Korea has dispatched over 100,000 workers abroad, generating up to $800 million annually despite United Nations sanctions. Reports indicate that North Korean laborers have been sent to a military drone manufacturing facility in Russia.

The Multinational Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT), led by South Korea, the United States, and Japan, released a report on September 16 detailing North Korea's violations and evasion of UN Security Council resolutions through overseas labor. The MSMT, which includes 11 countries such as the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, was established in October 2024 to monitor compliance with UN sanctions against North Korea.

According to the report, between 35,600 and 101,280 North Korean workers are currently residing in at least 17 countries, working in sectors such as construction, simple processing, fisheries, information technology (IT), healthcare, restaurants, and military supply. Their earnings last year were estimated to be between $450 million and $800 million.

The UN Security Council, through resolutions 2375 and 2397 in 2017, prohibited member states from allowing income-generating activities for North Korean residents and mandated the repatriation of existing overseas workers by the end of 2019. However, the MSMT concluded that North Korea's labor exports continue, particularly through China and Russia, indicating a structured evasion of sanctions.

The number of North Korean workers in China is estimated to be between 20,000 and 70,000. Although 10,000 to 20,000 temporarily returned home between 2023 and 2025, the report noted an increase in short-term training and education visas, resulting in approximately 10,000 new workers entering China from January last year to January this year.

These workers are primarily engaged in labor-intensive industries such as clothing and seafood processing, as well as in the IT sector, particularly in border areas like Liaoning and Jilin provinces. The report highlighted frequent entries of North Korean workers through the Dandong customs in China since May last year, with about 4,600 workers dispatched to an industrial complex in Longjing and approximately 7,800 to Hunchun.

In Russia, the number of North Korean workers is estimated to be between 15,000 and 30,000 as of the end of last year. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the demand for labor and deepening cooperation between North Korea and Russia have led to an increase in the number of dispatched workers, particularly in construction, processing, and agriculture in the Far East regions such as Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, and Sakhalin.

The report specifically noted that North Korean workers have been sent to the 'Geran-2' drone manufacturing plant and weapons factories in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in the Republic of Tatarstan, as well as steel processing facilities and shipbuilding complexes. Investigations revealed that Russia has been disguising North Korean workers as students to facilitate their entry, allowing them to engage in income-generating activities under student visas. Over 98% of the visas issued by Russia to North Korea last year were for academic purposes.

North Korea is believed to be leading these labor dispatches through key agencies such as the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, the Reconnaissance General Bureau, and the Workers' Party's Room 39, along with affiliated trading companies. A significant portion of the earnings generated by North Korean workers is reportedly used for procuring military supplies through trading companies in China and Russia, with some funds being remitted back to North Korea. The report noted that entities under UN sanctions, such as the Korea Trade Bank and the Korea Kwangson Bank, have been utilized in this process, with instances of cash being transported via diplomatic vehicles, bags, or through overseas travelers.

The share of earnings that goes to individual workers is extremely limited. The MSMT reported that North Korean authorities seize 80-90% of the wages of overseas workers, and in some cases, the amount collected by the authorities exceeds the actual income, leading to workers incurring debts. To prevent defection, the movement and external contact of workers are strictly controlled, and pressure is applied to their families remaining in North Korea in case of escape.

In Africa, hundreds of North Korean workers are engaged in healthcare, construction, IT, and manufacturing across ten countries, including Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, and Tanzania. Small-scale IT labor activities have also been detected in Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, while North Korean personnel are reported to be working in medical facilities in Kyrgyzstan and North Korean restaurants in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Participating countries in the MSMT issued a joint statement urging that the overseas labor network is being used to fund North Korea's illegal nuclear and ballistic missile programs, calling for domestic measures to hold accountable those responsible for sanctions violations and their accomplices. They also highlighted a monitoring gap following Russia's veto in April 2024, which led to the disbandment of the UN Security Council's North Korea Sanctions Committee expert panel, urging the re-establishment of the expert panel with the same authority and structure as before.