"North Korean Workers Riot in Africa Following China... Due to Poor Working Conditions"

Dissatisfaction Over Return Postponement, Wage Arrears, and Bribery
200 Leaders of Chinese Riot Arrested

North Korean workers dispatched for foreign currency earning purposes have been revealed to have staged riots not only in China but also in Africa.

The Sankei Shimbun reported on the 26th, citing sources familiar with the matter, that dozens of North Korean workers at a construction site in the Republic of Congo in Africa staged a riot. It is said that the riot was triggered by the postponement of their originally scheduled return last month.

[Photo by Yonhap News].

This is not the first riot by North Korean workers dispatched overseas. Earlier, Sankei reported in January that the first riot occurred over unpaid wages at a clothing manufacturing factory and a seafood processing plant in Helong City, Jilin Province, China. Last month, it was also reported that 10 North Korean workers at a clothing factory in Dandong City, Liaoning Province, China, engaged in collective actions such as refusing to go to work while demanding to return home.

The cause of the successive riots is attributed to poor working conditions. It is known that most of the wages of North Korean workers dispatched overseas are handed over to the North Korean authorities under the name of "loyalty funds." Furthermore, the dispatch period has been prolonged due to national lockdowns caused by the pandemic, leading to their patience reaching its limit.

In particular, sources said that the group leading the riot belonged to the "Jangmadang generation," which shocked the North Korean authorities. The Jangmadang generation is known to have been born during the "Arduous March" period in the 1990s and survived by making a living in markets called "Jangmadang," without receiving state benefits.

In response, the North Korean authorities promised to pay the overdue wages after the January riot in Jilin Province and reportedly dispatched a large number of secret police to investigate factory executives and riot participants. Sankei predicted, "There were people injured or who made extreme choices due to intense investigations including torture," and "So far, 200 people confirmed to have been detained and transferred back to the home country are expected to be severely punished, such as being executed or sent to political prison camps."

Meanwhile, the National Intelligence Service avoided making clear remarks about the North Korean workers' riot incident in Congo. However, it stated, "It appears that various incidents and accidents are increasing due to the harsh living conditions faced by North Korean workers dispatched overseas," and "We are tracking related trends."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.