North Korean laborers who had been working in China under the DPRK labor export program were scheduled to return home in July. However, their homecoming was delayed again on account of the border closure owing to the Covid pandemic.
Freedom Chosun learned from Mr. Lee that DPRK authorities denied permission to return. Dispatched to a clothing factory in HoonChoon (Hunchun), China, in February 2019, Mr. Lee worked there for 4 years and 5 months. Mr. Lee was one of 90 laborers belonging to EunHa Trading Company who signed up for a 2-year labor contract from March 2019 to February 2021. But DPRK closed the border because of Covid pandemic. Since then, he had to extend his Chinese visa for 2 years and 5 months.
Presently, there are about 70,000 North Korean laborers in China. Many of them are facing a crisis because the hosting Chinese companies have closed or canceled the labor contract due to business failures rising from the Covid pandemic.
DPRK has loosened some of the blockade allowing only trading activities of goods across the border and not the people.
Mr. Cho, a Chinese businessman who has been hiring North Korean workers for years, told Freedom Chosun, “North Korean laborers are like homeless orphans now. If they get sick or die, they can’t go back home. Even the Chinese people are upset about the DPRK blockade policy, calling it a corrupt government.”
In April, the DPRK Consulate informed North Korean workers that the government would permit the workers to return home in mid-July. Mr. Lee’s company held a meeting on July 3 and explained the entry process, including the 3-week quarantine period and medical examinations.
Mr. Lee believed that he was going to go home in a few days, but he is still on standby. Meantime, he heard through an official channel that the entry was stopped because of the “Victory Day” celebrations in Pyongyang on July 27.
Mr. Lee added, “Many North Korean workers wanted to defect to China or South Korea. They attempted to defect, but they were caught. Free travel is impossible in China, too, so they are forced to obey the Party.”
Those laborers who attempted defection will be transferred to State Security Agency and face imprisonment. Those who completed their overseas duties will be subject to ideological examination and several years of surveillance.
Jang Se-yul
저작권자 ⓒ 프리덤조선 무단 전재 및 재배포 금지