North Korea has sent approximately 15,000 workers to Russia in a bid to ease the country's labor shortage, which has been worsened by heavy military losses in Ukraine and a declining birth rate, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal citing South Korean intelligence.
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Pyongyang has emerged as one of Moscow's staunchest allies. Now entering its third year, the war has compounded Russia's workforce crisis. Western estimates suggest that hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers have died in the conflict, while many others have fled the country to avoid conscription and increasing repression.
Russia's Labor Ministry recently estimated a shortfall of 1.5 million workers, potentially growing to 2.4 million by 2030.
South Korea's intelligence agency reportedly informed lawmakers last week that nearly 15,000 North Korean migrant workers have been sent to Russia to help address the labor shortage. Many of them are believed to have entered under the guise of student visas, with official Russian data showing a 12-fold increase in North Korean arrivals in 2024 compared to the previous year.
Thus far, most of the North Korean workers have been deployed in Russia's Far East. However, officials are hoping to extend their presence to major urban centers such as Moscow. Russian employers reportedly favor North Korean laborers for their readiness to work 12-hour days for low wages, without complaints about conditions, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The use of North Korean migrant labor abroad constitutes a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, which prohibit such arrangements.
The deployment of workers comes amid deepening economic and military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang. In 2023, North Korea sent 12,000 troops to aid Russia's war effort, followed by an additional 3,000 this year.
These forces were reportedly involved in supporting Russia's counteroffensive in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces had launched a surprise incursion last August and suffered significant losses.
The Kremlin claimed last month that it had fully expelled Ukrainian forces from the area, though Kyiv has disputed the assertion. On Monday, pro-Russian military bloggers alleged a renewed Ukrainian incursion into Kursk, though neither side has officially commented on the reports.
