Overseas workers

July 12, 2026

DM highlights an article, "Tuberculosis cases trigger mandatory treatment of North Korean workers in Russia" by NK News correspondent Anton Sokolin, which reports on tuberculosis cases emerging among North Korean workers earning foreign currency in Russia.

Summary

  • Mandatory Treatment for Outbreaks: Russian authorities ordered more than 30 North Korean nationals to undergo mandatory treatment for "contagious tuberculosis" in Moscow during 2024 and 2025, which belatedly confirmed a suspected "infection outbreak among overseas workers".
  • Hazardous Living Conditions: Experts highlighted that these laborers are "often housed in highly overcrowded conditions," frequently living in "shipping containers" with more than ten individuals, an environment "particularly conducive to the spread of airborne diseases".
  • Compromised Medical Screenings: Corruption and medical shortages in North Korea potentially allow workers to obtain "falsified medical clearances," enabling them to "circumvent DPRK screening procedures" and enter Russia "without proper diagnosis or treatment".
  • Enforcement Difficulties: Moscow’s Ostankino District Court was often unable to "enforce the orders" for hospitalization because many of the North Korean citizens had "already left Russia" or their "whereabouts are unknown" by the time of the rulings.

Source: NK News

Source: DM

For additional context on the dire conditions faced by North Korean workers in Russia who are unable to receive proper medical treatment, the following is a summary of a relevant Radio Free Asia article ("North Korean Workers Left to Die Abroad as Authorities Turn a Blind Eye (당국 외면 속 죽어가는 해외 북 노동자들 워싱턴 - 자민 앤더슨, 서울 - 김지은)," Washington — Jamin Anderson, Seoul — Kim Ji-eun, which offers useful background. The DPRK Panel of Experts report (S/2024/215) also references this article.

  • Internal documents obtained by RFA expose the dire situation of North Korean construction workers in Russia, who are being abandoned by their government despite suffering from life-threatening illnesses.
  • Out of 54 workers, 8 have become incapacitated by diseases such as terminal cancer. Trapped by pandemic-related border closures and unable to afford thousands of dollars in medical costs on wages of just $100 a month, these workers face extreme human rights violations.
  • Laboring for over 16 hours a day without medical support, many feel "discarded by their homeland" while the threat of further labor exploitation looms.

July 10, 2026

DPRK Monitor (DM) has drawn on reporting, “Tax evasion in Moscow reveals early North Korean labor supply scheme: records” by NK News correspondent Anton Sokolin, who examined Russian court records to uncover the extent to which Russian companies have been employing North Korean laborers. Russia appears to be maintaining the pretense that these workers are not laborers by issuing them student visas, yet they have been observed working at construction sites across the country.

NK News has been doing exceptionally strong investigative reporting on the activities of DPRK overseas workers, and DM will continue to follow its coverage closely.

Summary

  • Exploitation of the "Student Visa" Loophole: Koryo Group and its CEO, Yulia Gavasheli, utilized a scheme to disguise North Korean laborers as students to bypass UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) 2375 and 2397, which prohibit DPRK nationals from earning income overseas.
  • Role of Intermediaries and Shell Companies: The firm enlisted Sodeystvie College to process workers under the guise of "educational practice" and used shell companies like SK Galeon and Benofon to facilitate labor procurement and commit large-scale tax fraud, resulting in approximately $1.5 million in unpaid taxes.
  • Establishment of Illicit Joint Ventures: Despite UNSCR 2371 banning overseas joint ventures with North Koreans, a DPRK citizen named Han Chol Ho co-founded Koryo Group in December 2017, and corporate records continue to list him as a co-incorporator.
  • Deployment at Major Construction Sites: DPRK laborers were deployed at Moscow-area residential projects developed by Samolet (Russia’s largest real estate developer), etc, illustrating a systemic issue where Russia issued over 36,000 educational visas to North Koreans in 2025 alone.

Source: NK News

Note that Mr. Sokolin references a report by the DPRK Panel of Experts (S/2024/215); the relevant excerpt from the POE report PDF is attached (Koryo Group is on page 472).

The Panel report stated "The Panel investigated Russian corporate registry records of　81 companies that may be DPRK-Russian joint ventures or cooperative entities, all of which are fully or partially owned or managed by DPRK nationals, which may further be employing DPRK nationals earning income."

May 24, 2026

Book Introduction

CHINA YAKKAI-OTAKU TRAVEL GUIDEBOOK: North Korean Restaurants 2024–25

中国迷の歩き方　北朝鮮レストラン2024〜25

Overview

DPRK Monitor (DM) introduces a valuable guidebook that describes the actual conditions of numerous North Korean restaurants and shops selling North Korean products located in China, based on direct visits.

According to the author, Mr. Okuma Morio (大熊杜夫), the information in the guidebook confirms the operation in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Dandong, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, and Taiyuan in Shanxi Province between 2023 and May 2025. However, the author notes that the local situation is extremely fluid, with some stores closing while new ones open.

DM notes North Korean nationals working at North Korean restaurants constitutes a violation of the obligation to repatriate them DPRK (UNSCR 2397, para 8). It should be pointed out that Mr. Okuma's observations serve as concrete and significant evidence of such violations.

Furthermore, in addition to cases of repatriation violations for North Korean workers in China, the book reveals that the MANSUDAE OVERSEAS PROJECT GROUP OF COMPANIES (KPe.050) has overseas sales bases in Beijing, which may constitute another violation of asset freeze measures (UNSCR 2371, para 3). It also notes that brewery of North Korean beer is located in Dandong, which may conflict with the ban on joint ventures and cooperative entities with DPRK (UNSCR 2375, para 18).

Filling the Monitoring Gap:

While the March 2024 UN DPRK Panel of Experts report identified over 60 North Korean restaurants in China (the Panel's report, Annex 65 listed 65 restaurants), Mr. Okuma's guidebook includes locations not listed in the Panel's report. This makes the publication a vital independent resource for tracking UNSCR violations in the post-Panel era.

Mr. Okuma is energetically updating the status of North Korean restaurants, and we look forward to further updates on his investigation.

Mr. Okuma's contact information: https://x.com/ak_prc_dprk