By Ju-min ParkSEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's intelligence agency says poor conditions for North Koreans working overseas have led to "incidents and accidents", while researchers report rare protests and unrest in China among workers from a North Korean military-linked trading company.
Fed up with unpaid wages and lingering pandemic lockdowns, as many as 3,000 North Korean workers in China staged protests last month, according to two South Korean government-affiliated researchers, including a former North Korean diplomat.
The North Korean embassy in Beijing and its consular office in the Chinese border city of Dandong did not respond to calls from Reuters seeking comment.
South Korea's unification ministry said in a report last year that China and Russia were hosting North Korean workers despite the sanctions.
That's not easy now, given the North Korean regime wants to keep them in China to raise money for the government."
Persons:
Cho Han, Cho, Ko Young, Ko, Jimin Jung, Josh Smith, Eduardo Baptista, Antoni Slodkowski, Laurie Chen, Gerry Doyle
Organizations:
North, . State, Korea Institute for National, South, Korea's National Intelligence Service, Security, Koreans, U.S . State Department, NIS
Locations:
SEOUL, China, North Korean, Beijing, Dandong, North Koreans, North Korea, Pyongyang, Korean, Helong, Jilin province, Jilin, Russia, Seoul