page_title: North Koreans in Russia
section_title: Workers
hierarchical_section_title: North Koreans in Russia / Migration history / Workers
caption_attribution_description: English: Map portraying Asian countries by known North Korean migrant worker numbers. Data sources: Hanrahan, Mark (8 November 2014). North Korean Laborers In Qatar Working As 'State-Sponsored Slaves' During World-Cup Lead Construction Boom: Report. International Business Times. Retrieved on 7 October 2015. Kim Yong Hun (18 November 2009). Chongryon Feels the Pinch&#160;: The Plunging Chongryun – Part 1. dailynk.com. Retrieved on 7 October 2015. Kim Young-jin (15 October 2012). 4,000 N. Koreans working in Kuwait. koreatimes. Retrieved on 7 October 2015. Kovessy, Peter (30 August 2015). North Korean workers in Qatar fired for moonlighting - Doha News. Doha News. Retrieved on 7 October 2015. Kwon, K.J. (15 May 2015). North Korean migrant workers used as slaves. CNN. Retrieved on 7 October 2015. Pattisson, Pete (7 November 2014). North Korean 'forced labour' helps to build Qatar’s ambitious future. the Guardian. Retrieved on 7 October 2015. Rosen, Armin (26 July 2012). The Strange Rise and Fall of North Korea's Business Empire in Japan. The Atlantic. Retrieved on 7 October 2015. Sang-Hun, Choe (19 February 2015). North Korea Exports Forced Laborers for Profit, Rights Groups Say. nytimes.com. Retrieved on 7 October 2015. Song Jiyoung (28 June 2013). The Complexity of North Korean Migration. globalethicsnetwork.org. Retrieved on 7 October 2015. The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea - N.Korean Workers Brave Hard Times in UAE. english.chosun.com (25 December 2009). Retrieved on 7 October 2015. Who We Help. nkhrrescuefund.org (n.d.). Retrieved on 7 October 2015. This file was derived from: &#160;BlankAsia.png
context_page_description: North Koreans in Russia consist mainly of three groups: international students, guest workers, and defectors and refugees. A 2006 study by Kyung Hee University estimated their total population at roughly 10,000.
  Aside from North Korean citizens living in Russia, there has also historically been significant migration from the northern provinces of Korea, especially Hamgyong, to the Russian Far East; this population of migrants became known as the Koryo-saram. 65% of the Sakhalin Koreans also took up North Korean citizenship in the 1950s and 1960s in order to avoid statelessness; roughly one thousand even repatriated to North Korea, though their ancestral homes were in the southern half of the Korean peninsula. In addition, various senior members of the Workers' Party of Korea, including Kim Il-sung himself, lived in Russia prior to Korean independence and the establishment of North Korea.
context_section_description: In the late 1940s, roughly 9,000 North Korean migrant workers were recruited by the Soviet government to work in state-owned fisheries on Sakhalin. Another 25,000 workers also came to work in fisheries during the 1950s. The second wave began in 1966 or 1967 under a secret agreement between Leonid Brezhnev and Kim Il-sung in Vladivostok, which involved North Koreans working as lumberjacks.  Roughly 15,000 to 20,000 were present in any given year. The first two waves consisted mostly of criminals or political prisoners.
  However, the most recent influx of North Korean workers, which began under the government of Vladimir Putin, is composed of volunteers seeking to escape unemployment and poverty at home. Most are from Pyongyang; recruitment companies prefer workers from urban areas, as they are believed to adapt better to life in other countries. By 2006, more than 10,000 North Koreans entered Russia on work visas annually, largely headed for the Russian Far East. They are closely monitored by North Korean security forces to prevent defections; many report being paid in scrip rather than legal currency. In 2009, the North Korean government was estimated to earn roughly US$7 million each year in foreign exchange through their workers in Russia. In 2010, reports came out from Nakhodka indicating that North Korean workers and traders there had been evacuated back to their home country due to rising military tensions with South Korea. In 2011, Kim Jong-il made a visit to Russia in which he reportedly negotiated for even more North Korean workers to be sent to Russia. Up to 70% of the $40 to $100 per month wages earned by the workers are reported to be taken away as "loyalty payments".
caption: Number of North Korean migrant workers in Asia
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