North Korean authorities have reportedly requested an increase in the wages of their workers employed at Chinese companies.
In Liaoning Province, including cities such as Dandong and Donggang, North Korean laborers work for Chinese businesses. Currently, most of these workers receive monthly wages of around 2,000 to 3,000 yuan ($283 to $425). Recently, North Korea has asked Chinese employers to raise this amount to 3,000 to 4,000 yuan ($425 to $567).
A source familiar with North Korea-China affairs told Radio Free Asia (RFA) on September 22 that wages for North Korean workers at an umbrella factory in Dandong had been increased to 4,000 yuan.
“The North Korean side notified [Chinese companies] that unless wages were raised this month, they would reassign workers to other factories,” the source said. “After some friction, the Chinese side agreed to the wage increase a few days ago.”
The Dandong umbrella factory, run by a Chinese national, employs around 200 North Korean workers, including about 100 young women who were sent this month, along with other men and women who were dispatched before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The source added, “The factory’s products are exported to Eastern Europe, so the owner had no choice but to raise the wages to meet export deadlines.”
Another source in Donggang confirmed that since last month, North Korean companies have been asking Chinese employers to increase wages due to the rising ‘loyalty funds’ that North Korean workers are required to pay to their government, according to RFA.
While the exact scale of the loyalty fund increase remains unclear, the source noted that many seafood processing companies in the Donggang area, which employ North Korean women, have also faced demands to raise wages from the current 2,300 to 2,500 yuan ($325 to $354) to 3,500 yuan ($496) starting this month.
Chinese employers are reportedly negotiating with North Korean officials, with some agreeing to small wage increases of around 200 yuan ($28) per worker, though they are resisting the larger 1,000 yuan ($142) increase requested by North Korean officials.
Some companies have found it more economical to hire North Korean workers despite the higher wages, as local Chinese workers are more expensive and tend to quit frequently. One seafood processing company plans to raise wages to 3,500 yuan per worker next month, the source said.
The seafood processing factories, depending on their size, employ between 50 to 200 North Korean women. Wages are typically paid directly to North Korean officials’ accounts, who then deduct loyalty funds and living expenses before distributing a fraction of the wages to the workers – reportedly around one-quarter of the total pay.
The source noted that North Korea’s push for higher wages reflects a shortage of local labor and the strong demand from Chinese companies to hire North Korean workers.
Meanwhile, despite United Nations Security Council Resolution 2397, which mandates the repatriation of North Korean workers abroad, many laborers sent to China before 2020 have remained due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Repatriation resumed earlier this year, along with new labor deployments.
There are currently about 30,000 North Korean workers in Liaoning Province, including Dandong, according to multiple sources.
A recent UN report on North Korea sanctions noted that approximately 100,000 North Korean workers remain engaged in foreign labor schemes in over 40 countries, including China and Russia.
BY YOUNGNAM KIM [kim.youngnam@koreadaily.com]
