Authorities in the Russian port city of Vladivostok have released video footage showing North Korean laborers working at a local construction site—offering rare public confirmation of Pyongyang’s sanctioned overseas labor program and raising fresh concerns over violations of international law.
The footage, which aired earlier this month and was reported on Monday by NK News, captures city officials visiting a construction project managed by Russian developer Samolyot. In the video, officials address rumors circulating online that North Koreans at the site had abused or slaughtered dogs for food—claims they denied.
“They’re Koreans, they work here legally,” a city official says in the clip, adding that the dogs on site were used for security purposes.
Yet multiple reports indicate that the workers’ accents and terminology clearly identify them as North Koreans—a crucial distinction, given that South Koreans do not work in Russian construction.
The presence of North Korean workers directly violates UN Security Council Resolution 2397, which bars Pyongyang from earning foreign currency through overseas labor. The resolution, adopted in 2017, gave UN member states until the end of 2019 to repatriate all North Korean workers.
Despite that mandate, Russia has continued to allow North Korean laborers to operate in sectors such as construction under various pretexts—including as “students” or “trainees.”
The issue came to light following local complaints of missing dogs near the Samolyot site, prompting an official inspection. While no evidence of animal abuse was presented in the footage, the video inadvertently exposed North Korean nationals actively working in Russia.
North Korea’s state-run news outlet, KCNA, reported last week that its labor network is now operating across Russia. On April 10, KCNA noted that eight executives from Russian construction firms—based in cities including Moscow, Khabarovsk, and Tatarstan—sent flower baskets to Kim Jong Un to mark the 113th birthday of founding leader Kim Il Sung.
Meanwhile, regional Russian officials have publicly backed the use of North Korean laborers. In Siberia’s Novosibirsk region, local authorities said they expect around 2,000 North Koreans to fill gaps in the labor force left by the war in Ukraine. Similar arrangements have been discussed in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied territories, including Donetsk and Luhansk, where North Korean workers are being considered to help rebuild war-torn infrastructure.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously criticized the UN ban and supported the reintroduction of North Korean workers to ease Russia’s ongoing labor shortages.
Analysts say Pyongyang has increasingly masked its labor exports under the guise of student exchanges or technical training programs. Last year, North Korea reportedly sent more workers to Russia than ever before, despite international sanctions.
One Response
The UN is toothless in it’s dealing with dictatorships. They have some value as a peacekeeping force only.