[The Yomiuri Shimbun] [スキャナー]北の労働者 露派遣続々 学生ビザ 安保理決議の「抜け穴」 民生協力拡大

20 Apr 2026

News Title (English): [Scanner] North Korean Workers Dispatched to Russia in Succession: Student Visas as a "Loophole" in Security Council Resolutions Amid Expanding Civilian Cooperation


On March 29, The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s most widely circulated daily newspaper, featured an interview with NKDB Human Rights Analyst Unique Kim. The article examined the recent surge in North Korean laborers being dispatched to Russia on student visas, a tactic specifically designed to circumvent international sanctions.


The article states:

According to Analyst Unique Kim of the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB), a South Korean NGO that collected testimonies from escapees regarding the reality of these dispatches, some construction sites force laborers to work 17 hours a day with no rest days. Up to 90 percent of their wages are reportedly confiscated by the authorities under the guise of "loyalty" payments, a situation Kim described as "modern-day slavery."

In a report released last September, Kim analyzed that North Korea’s foreign currency earnings through labor dispatches likely exceed hundreds of millions to 2 billion dollars (approximately 320 billion yen) annually. She further noted that these funds are being utilized to advance the regime’s nuclear and missile development programs.


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