North Korean labour advertised online to Russian factories

{"text":[[{"start":6.78,"text":"North Korean labourers are being sent to work in factories across Russia’s agricultural and manufacturing heartlands, according to an investigation that sheds light on the deepening economic partnership between Moscow and Pyongyang."}],[{"start":19.22,"text":"The report by Global Rights Compliance, a Hague-based international law foundation, cites Russian corporate and procurement records, archived online advertisements and photos and videos on social media. The group said it used geolocation and metadata to verify images and documents."}],[{"start":36.3,"text":"The two countries’ ties have deepened since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Pyongyang supplying weapons and troops to support Russia’s war effort in exchange for billions of dollars in cash, fuel and payments in kind. Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un signed a strategic partnership treaty providing for mutual military assistance in June 2024."}],[{"start":57.44,"text":"GRC said the labour pipeline was also generating revenue for Pyongyang, in violation of UN sanctions prohibiting use of North Korean workers abroad."}],[{"start":66.32,"text":"“Our findings have shown that labour is helping to deepen the ties between North Korea and Russia,” said Lara Strangways, GRC head of business and human rights. “Their labour props up Russian industry, including sites linked to the war in Ukraine, while the revenue they generate helps fund North Korea’s military programme.”"}],[{"start":83.92,"text":"GRC identified a brokerage network run by Moscow-based businessman Vladimir Sokolov, who was named a subject of EU sanctions along with two companies this month for commercial and industrial co-operation with Pyongyang, including a joint investment project."}],[{"start":98.72,"text":"An archived version of the website KNDR.su, which identifies itself as part of Sokolov’s Black Horse group, advertises teams of 50-100 North Korean workers who it promises will work 12 hours a day, 28 days a month and “are not late, do not skip work, do not drink, and do not fight”."}],[{"start":116.8,"text":"The website said the North Koreans should be housed separately from other nationalities and assures prospective employers that they will not run away, citing North Korean embassy control of their documents and “serious consequences” at home for breaking contracts."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":130.36,"text":"One apparent customer review of KNDR.su on Russian portal Yandex raved about North Korean workers: “Their output and labour productivity proved to be very high. I would also like to highlight their impeccable discipline. Thank you!”"}],[{"start":143.7,"text":"GRC did not estimate the total number of North Korean workers KNDR.su had placed at Russian factories."}],[{"start":150.64,"text":"Between July and August, the website’s title changed from “Labour Brigades of the DPRK” to “Student Practice of the DPRK”, according to FT research. GRC said Russia used student visas to disguise labour deployments to avoid sanctions scrutiny."}],[{"start":167.32,"text":"Ruslan Zhukov, whom GRC identified as the network’s operations director, told investigators posing as prospective employers that recruits studied by remote correspondence while working factory shifts. Zhukov later contradicted that statement when asked by GRC, saying the workers were students undertaking practical training."}],[{"start":186.88,"text":"GRC said it identified North Korean workers producing pet food at KPP Ruskon, a food producer in Ramenskoye near Moscow, according to social media videos and undercover enquiries."}],[{"start":198.8,"text":"It also cited procurement records that showed an agricultural enterprise awarded a $133,800 contract to Pyongyang LLC, a company run by Zhukov and described by Sokolov as part of Black Horse, to arrange placements for 50 North Koreans."}],[{"start":216.52,"text":"Black Horse’s website says it supplies machinery for orders from Russia’s defence ministry and markets industrial machinery and exports agricultural products to North Korea. The website says Sokolov attended Harvard University and has received military commendations for assistance to Russian forces."}],[{"start":234.28,"text":"Black Horse, Sokolov and Zhukov did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. In a statement published by a news outlet owned by Sokolov last month, Zhukov said Pyongyang LLC operated strictly in compliance with Russian law, did not organise the recruitment of foreign labour and did not act as an agent for the employment of North Koreans."}],[{"start":255.92,"text":"Claims that student status had been used to circumvent restrictions on employment were untrue, the statement said."}],[{"start":262.56,"text":"The Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, an 11-country group, estimated in September that Russia was hosting between 15,000 and 30,000 North Korean workers by the end of last year."}],[{"start":273.88,"text":"UN human rights investigators have documented the use of threats to forcibly return overseas workers who complain about conditions or attempt to escape. North Korean workers who defect also risk reprisals against their relatives at home, sanctions monitors have said."}],[{"start":290.32,"text":"Shreyas Reddy of Korea Risk Group said North Korean workers typically only receive about 10-25 per cent of their wages, with the rest going to North Korean state-owned enterprises and the regime in Pyongyang."}],[{"start":300.8,"text":"But overseas postings were sought-after and comparatively well paid, and quality of life for workers abroad was “significantly better than the life they could realistically expect in North Korea”, said Andrei Lankov, a North Korea expert at Kookmin University in Seoul."}],[{"start":317.72,"text":"Russia’s foreign ministry and KPP Ruskon did not immediately reply to requests for comment."}],[{"start":327.65,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1793244291_1941.mp3"}