North Korea Could Earn Up To $800 Million From Its Workers Abroad

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) This is according to a statement by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) concerning a report on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's overseas labor program, Ukrinform reports.

“Despite the 2019 repatriation deadline established by UN Security Council Resolution 2397, North Korean workers continue to work in at least 17 countries, generating approximately $450–800 million to finance the DPRK's unlawful nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs,” the report says, citing data as of the end of 2025.

The report notes that nearly all of the money earned by North Korean workers abroad - between 80% and 90% - is confiscated by the North Korean authorities. In some cases, the amount confiscated even exceeds their actual earnings, ultimately leaving North Korean workers in debt to the DPRK.

An estimated 35,600 to 101,280 North Korean citizens are working abroad, primarily in Russia and China. In Russia alone, between 15,000 and 30,000 North Koreans were working as of the end of 2025.

Read also: First road bridge opened between Russia and North Korea

“These workers manufacture military drones for Russia on Russian soil... The Russian government has created a student visa program to disguise North Korean workers as students. Each North Korean worker in Russia earns an estimated $7,500 per year,” the report claims.

According to available data, the monthly wages of North Korean workers in Russia can be up to five times higher than those in China, depending on the industry.

An estimated 20,000 to 70,000 North Korean workers are employed in China. Despite the temporary repatriation of between 10,000 and 20,000 workers between 2023 and 2025, approximately 10,000 North Korean workers arrived in China in 2025.

In 2017, the UN Security Council called on member states to repatriate by 2019 North Koreans earning income in their respective territories.

The statement was published by the governments of Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

As reported, Russia is seeking to compensate for its battlefield losses through the systematic recruitment of foreign mercenaries. Ukrainian military intelligence estimates that the aggressor state has already recruited more than 28,000 foreigners for its criminal war. Lieutenant General Oleh Ivashchenko, Chief of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, reported this.

Photo: Unsplash/Mike Bravo

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