North Korea is planning to repatriate 10,000 workers dispatched to earn foreign currency in China but who were then stranded by the coronavirus pandemic, replacing them with younger recruits, sources in China told Radio Free Asia. One of North Korea's chief foreign currency sources is to dispatch workers overseas, then collect the majority share of their salaries. North Korean labour exports were supposed to have stopped when United Nations sanctions froze the issuance of work visas and mandated the repatriation of North Korean nationals working abroad by the end of 2019. The sanctions are aimed at depriving the capital city of Pyongyang of cash to fund its prohibited nuclear weapons and missile programs. Though many North Koreans returned home prior to the deadline, some were allowed to remain until their three-year visas were to expire in early 2020. But in January 2020, Pyongyang and Beijing closed the Sino-Korean border to stop the spread of coronavirus, making a return home impossible.