{"id":26869,"date":"2026-08-09T18:23:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T15:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/?p=26869"},"modified":"2026-08-09T18:23:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T15:23:18","slug":"kndr-zhinky-robota-rosii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/world\/kndr-zhinky-robota-rosii\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korea is increasing the number of women it sends to work in Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"news-lead\">North Korea is expanding the deployment of women to work in Russia, where they are employed in industry and the agricultural sector. Russian recruitment agencies have stated their readiness to bring in up to 2,000 female workers per week. Human rights activists describe this system as forced labour, and the paid employment of North Korean citizens abroad contravenes UN sanctions.<\/p>\n<div class=\"news-summary-box\">\n<p><strong>Briefly about the main points<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Russian company Startaff proposed recruiting up to 2,000 female workers from North Korea every week.<\/li>\n<li>Women from North Korea have been spotted on pig farms in Primorsky Krai and at an agricultural complex near Kaluga.<\/li>\n<li>CSIS estimates that there are more than 30,000 North Korean workers in Russia.<\/li>\n<li>GRC identified all 11 indicators of forced labour in the workers\u2019 testimonies.<\/li>\n<li>The UN resolution called for North Korean workers to be repatriated by the end of 2019.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>The recruitment of women from North Korea has become a public initiative<\/h2>\n<p>In autumn 2025, the St Petersburg-based recruitment agency Startaff published a proposal to recruit female workers from North Korea. The proposal outlined the possibility of supplying up to 2,000 women each week for work in garment factories, agricultural complexes, and for finishing and painting work.<\/p>\n<p>They were also offered to employers in the food sector. A study by Global Rights Compliance identified the garment and catering sectors as areas where North Korean nationals are employed. This expands on the previous practice whereby North Korean men were predominantly employed in the construction industry.<\/p>\n<h2>Female workers have already been spotted on farms and at agricultural enterprises<\/h2>\n<p>In February, Radio Free Asia reported on groups of North Korean women working on pig farms near Vladivostok and Ussuriysk. Eleven women were working at one farm, and around 15 at the other. RFA\u2019s sources claimed that <strong>The female workers lived on the premises of the enterprises and hardly ever left them<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>For one employer, this workforce cost approximately 10\u201315% less than local labour. In May, NK News documented dozens of women from North Korea at the large Agro-Invest agricultural complex in the Kaluga region; the company published a video of a corporate event in which they took part.<\/p>\n<h2>The influx of workers from North Korea is increasing against a backdrop of labour shortages<\/h2>\n<p>The US Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimates that there are more than 30,000 North Korean nationals working in Russia. On 8 August, the President <strong>Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/strong> stated that Russia had decided to resettle a total of between 30,000 and 50,000 North Korean citizens on its territory.<\/p>\n<p>Following the outbreak of a full-scale war against Ukraine <a href=\"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/world\/kndr-raketnyi-pidrozdil-rosia-ukraina\/\">co-operation between Moscow and Pyongyang<\/a> has expanded dramatically: it now encompasses the civilian workforce, military personnel, armaments and the transfer of combat expertise. For Russia, workers from the DPRK can partially make up for the labour shortage caused by mobilisation, war casualties, emigration and the transfer of personnel to the military-industrial complex.<\/p>\n<h2>Human rights activists have described the system of monitoring and deductions from earnings<\/h2>\n<p>In March, Global Rights Compliance published a study based on interviews with 21 North Korean workers in three Russian cities. The organisation stated that their testimonies contained all 11 indicators of forced labour as defined by the International Labour Organisation.<\/p>\n<p>Among the practices described are working up to 16 hours a day, an almost complete lack of days off, collective punishments, living in overcrowded accommodation, and financial quotas in favour of the state. Those interviewed also spoke of the virtual impossibility of freely changing jobs or leaving the company.<\/p>\n<p>Some workers were left with around $10 a month after all deductions. According to GRC estimates, the global system of overseas labour involving North Korean citizens could bring Pyongyang approximately $500 million each year.<\/p>\n<h2>The UN sanctions ban remains in force, but international monitoring has weakened<\/h2>\n<p>UN Security Council Resolution 2397 called for an end to the use of paid labour by DPRK nationals abroad and for their repatriation by the end of 2019. Public advertisements by Russian intermediaries recruiting thousands of female workers have attracted the attention of sanctions experts.<\/p>\n<p>Following the rapprochement between Moscow and Pyongyang, it became difficult for Russia to comply with these restrictions. In 2024, Moscow blocked the renewal of the mandate of the UN panel of experts tasked with monitoring compliance with sanctions against the DPRK.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A UN resolution prohibits paid work by North Korean citizens abroad, but Russia continues to recruit female workers from North Korea.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":207433346,"featured_media":26868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_description":"\u0420\u0435\u0437\u043e\u043b\u044e\u0446\u0456\u044f \u041e\u041e\u041d \u0437\u0430\u0431\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043d\u044f\u0454 \u043e\u043f\u043b\u0430\u0447\u0443\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0443 \u043f\u0440\u0430\u0446\u044e \u0433\u0440\u043e\u043c\u0430\u0434\u044f\u043d \u041a\u041d\u0414\u0420 \u0437\u0430 \u043a\u043e\u0440\u0434\u043e\u043d\u043e\u043c, \u0430\u043b\u0435 \u0420\u043e\u0441\u0456\u044f \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0434\u043e\u0432\u0436\u0443\u0454 \u0437\u0430\u043b\u0443\u0447\u0430\u0442\u0438 \u043f\u0440\u0430\u0446\u0456\u0432\u043d\u0438\u0446\u044c \u0456\u0437 \u041f\u0456\u0432\u043d\u0456\u0447\u043d\u043e\u0457 \u041a\u043e\u0440\u0435\u0457.","rank_math_title":"\u0416\u0456\u043d\u043a\u0438 \u0437 \u041a\u041d\u0414\u0420 \u043d\u0430 \u0440\u043e\u0431\u043e\u0442\u0456 \u0432 \u0420\u043e\u0441\u0456\u0457: \u0444\u0430\u0431\u0440\u0438\u043a\u0438, \u0444\u0435\u0440\u043c\u0438, \u043f\u0440\u0438\u043c\u0443\u0441","rank_math_focus_keyword":"\u041a\u041d\u0414\u0420","td_subtitle":"","subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[805619],"tags":[805624],"class_list":["post-26869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-805624"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207433346"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26869"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26870,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26869\/revisions\/26870"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}