On Wednesday, NK News, a U.S.-based media outlet specializing in North Korean affairs, reported that a Russian company is openly advertising its ability to supply up to 2,000 North Korean female workers per week.
Startaff, a staffing agency headquartered in St. Petersburg, Russia, announced on a public bidding platform on September 5 that it can facilitate North Korean labor for the garment industry, agricultural complexes, and finishing and painting work.
This recruitment activity appears to violate United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 2397, which prohibits overseas income-generating activities by North Korean nationals and mandates their complete repatriation by the end of 2019.
The company boasted its ability to swiftly deploy workers anywhere in northwestern Russia at a rate of 900 RUB (approximately 11 USD) per hour. For context, the approximate minimum wage in Russia is 1.68 USD per hour.
Chris Monday, a Russian studies researcher at Dongseo University, commented on the company’s public announcement of its staffing plans, statiing that this demonstrates President Vladimir Putin’s indifference to Western and South Korean public opinion, implying a readiness to accept a large number of North Korean workers.
Kim Yoonik, a researcher at the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB), emphasized that Startaff’s bidding advertisement differs from the typical supply of North Korean male workers in the Russian construction sector. He noted that this indicates Russian companies are seeking North Korean labor in fields beyond construction, raising concerns about a potential deterioration in human rights conditions as the number of North Korean workers increases.
Kim added that the workers featured in these advertisements are dispatched through North Korean state-owned enterprises.