North Korea’s dispatch of construction workers to Russia last year violated United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions, South Korea’s unification ministry stated on 10 February. The term “dispatch” refers to agencies providing temporary workers (dispatched workers) to client companies.

NK News reports that the ministry comment was in response to a statement from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) that “North Korea dispatched thousands of workers to construction industry sites across Russia last year,” according to newspaper The Dong-A Ilbo. NK News said the NIS was not available for comment when contacted.

“North Korea’s dispatch of workers to foreign … third countries is clearly a violation of UNSC resolutions,” said Koo Byoungsam, the unification ministry spokesperson, in a briefing. “In this regard, we emphasise once again that all UN member states have an obligation to comply with UNSC resolutions.

“Regarding North Korea’s dispatch of workers to Russia, fundamentally, there has always been demand for young workforce in Russia’s Far East region, and in that sense, [Russia’s] demand [for North Korean workers] still exists,” Byoungsam added. According to a UN report published last year, more than 100,000 North Korean workers are still working overseas generating revenue for North Korea, located in approximately 40 countries and working in a variety of areas, including sewing, construction, medicine, information technology and food service, generating more than USD 500,000 annually.