Escape of North Korean Overseas Workers Recently, there have been reports that the number of North Korean construction workers dispatched to Russia has increased significantly Some female workers in China suffer from long-term isolation and confinement due to corona (Reporter Seulgi Jang of DailyNK, North Korean workers dispatched to China for the second year in confinement.
"It's painful to work all day", April 6, 2022) It could be said that it was a situation that was predicted enough because it was reported that some escaped without enduring this North Korea's overseas dispatch sites are managed almost the same regardless of the time and place of dispatch.
It is presumed that the deterioration of physical strength due to long hours of work, the form of living where many workers live together in a crowded place, and the possibility of being excluded from quarantine management and protection measures by the authorities were similar In the end, excessive control and a management style that severely violated workers' human rights acted as a knife that threatened life and survival in a 'crisis situation'.
Of course, the workers' act of 'escape' has a lot of implications for us The overseas dispatch of North Korean workers provides an 'opportunity' of a level never expected within North Korean society.
It is an understanding of the market where labor value is calculated according to the amount of work, the opportunity to check the free life of the outside world and the advancedness of the labor field, and the experience of living in a new space where restrictions on freedom of information and movement are lifted Being dispatched abroad and directly contacting the outside world, they open their eyes to the external reality that the North Korean government has been hiding.
In a state of not knowing this reality, I endured and adapted, but 'Information' awakens critical consciousness, and eventually they develop a sense of resistance North Korea's labor reality and value Let's go back to the situation before dispatch and look at why people prefer overseas dispatch.
In North Korea's labor reality, the value of labor is different from that in capitalist society Of course, it is said that the family-based ration system and living expenses are provided to the workers who worked, but the obligation to work (Article 30 of the 「Constitution」 and Articles 4 and 5 of the 「Socialist Labor Act」) must be fulfilled even when there is no compensation for labor.
have to fulfill As a result, the 8 3 workers who were exempted from going to work were created by paying a certain amount of money earned in the market from a side job to the workplace to which they officially belong.
However, it is difficult for everyone to rely on the market The market is also a place of opportunity to trade goods produced or secured by oneself, but it is also a place where there is still a risk of crackdown on illegal and illegal activities.
Therefore, in terms of job search, the popularity of jobs with so-called 'egg to eat' is bound to rise There are a limited number of jobs where you can earn a lot of money, and these jobs are either with a good foundation or background, or you can seize opportunities by offering bribes.
As the scale of overseas dispatch of North Korean workers expanded, the experience stories of existing dispatchers spread, and the perception that it was an opportunity to earn a lot of money as well as an advantage to see the outside world spread When a detailed plan is established according to a kind of wark (permission), each institution selects a certain level of target and reviews whether there are any problems with overseas dispatch through a verification process.
In general, it is known to look at not only the background, but also the family background up to the 8th degree Skills and foreign language proficiency are important in the subsequent interview process, but most importantly, those with a low risk of defection, i.
E , See Loyalty To The Party
Poor working environment Even during the verification process, which takes six months to one year, it is difficult to know exactly what tasks and wages will be assigned after being dispatched, and no information is provided to determine the poor working environment in advance In addition, they cannot easily leave the dispatch site because they are subject to a level of control that allows them to go back and forth between work and residence with their passports confiscated immediately after dispatch.
North Korean workers who escaped from their overseas dispatch sites cite problems at the site as excessive working hours, extortion, surveillance, and control of bonuses Working day and night based on the amount of work to be accomplished first, contracts in the form of a 'contract system' are being enforced under threat of punishment.
Wages are also replaced with checks that are provided after returning home due to the risk of escape, and if the target amount is not achieved, it is deducted from the wages again The International Labor Organization (ILO) presents involuntaryness as an important criterion for forced labor (ILO Forced Labor Convention (Convention No.
29) Article 2), and specific indicators include debt bondage, wage arrears, confiscation of ID cards, and vulnerability Malicious use of is presented as a related indicator (ILO Indicators of Forced Labor, Special Action Program to Combat Forced Labor, 2012).
Most of the countries that are in alliance with North Korea are in a hurry to fill the North Korean labor force, so the companies or local management organizations turn a blind eye to it, creating a 'gap' that is not legally protected In particular, in the corona situation, the poor is aggravated.
A space where a group stays for a long time in a dense and closed space is a place that is vulnerable to infection And these hidden, separated, Because they live in a special form, the possibility of not receiving treatment increases.
It is a message that it is absolutely impossible if you know the problems of living and working space, and if you can raise a problem in order to move and receive treatment, it is absolutely impossible In the end, their will to escape overwhelms the opportunity they got from being dispatched.
Sustainability of Dispatch and Creation of Opportunities The UN Security Council restricted new permits for North Korean workers within the jurisdiction of UN member states through Resolution 2375 on September 11, 2017 as part of sanctions against North Korea for its series of nuclear and missile tests And on December 22, 2017, through Resolution No.
2397, it was decided that North Korean workers staying in the country would also be repatriated within 24 months As a result, it was judged that the number of overseas workers would decrease significantly.
(Institute for National Unification, White Paper on North Korean Human Rights, 2021) However, it is said that China dispatches 80,000 people in Dandong alone (DailyNK reporter Jang Seul-gi, “80,000 North Korean workers in Dandong alone… revealed during the corona inspection process”, 2022 As of November 14, 2013), it can be seen that the demand of the sending country and the North Korean motivation for dispatching are still very strong In addition, as a result of visiting the dispatch sites, most of the dispatch countries that have accepted North Korean labor force seem to be accepting North Korea's unique 'special political character'.
All the dispatch sites will manage the labor force in the North Korean way, such as conducting life review, and there was even a North Korean office with pictures of North Korean Kim Il-sung and kim jong-il hanging (The author, the result of a field investigation in Hunchun, China in 2018) However, hearing the motives of the escaped workers draws attention to the ripple effect of newly learned facts after leaving the outside world.
The fact that an MSS agent who returned from Russia after working in Russia was investigated for making a drunken slip of the tongue comparing Russia and North Korea (DailyNK reporter Jeong Seo-yeong, “I said this at a drinking party to an MSS officer returning from Russia, but eventually took personnel action”, February 2020 March 18) shows the power of newly acquired 'information' Indeed, as the State Security Department said, who lived in North Korea could not 'become immersed in the fantasy of capitalism and corrupt his ideology even though he has been to a foreign country where no one can go without permission due to the Party's consideration'.
I hope that the movement to diagnose the human rights situation in the labor field once again and improve it will grow ※ Columns by external authors may not match the editorial direction of this magazine.
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