Lack of workers is one of Russia's biggest problems, created by falling birth rates and exacerbated by the war. Hundreds of thousands of Russians are thought to have been killed in Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine – and countless others have fled the country to avoid becoming cannon fodder.
North Korean guest workers are now pouring in, reports The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Around 15,000 North Koreans have recently been sent to the neighboring country, reports South Korea's intelligence service. The number is said to have increased twelvefold just last year.
Twelve-hour shifts
According to WSJ, the North Korean workers are praised for their willingness to work twelve-hour shifts with low wages without complaints.
Russia's Vice Premier Marat Chusnullin has even suggested that North Koreans can help with the reconstruction of war-torn areas – including Russian-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine.
A North Korean tile layer can do the job of two Russians, claimed Chusnullin.
Got a limousine>
The exchange breaks the UN's sanctions against Pyongyang, which prohibit North Koreans from working abroad, as the lion's share of the money is assumed to go to dictator Kim Jong-Un's regime.
Defected North Koreans have for decades testified that the regime takes around 90 percent of the workers' wages.
Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un have had a close friendship for a long time. The two authoritarian leaders have expanded their cooperation and – in defiance of sanctions – trade across the border in recent years. Last year, Putin gave Kim an armored limousine, writes WSJ.
