North Korea lends forced labor to Russian companies

Forced labor and monster shifts

Kim Jong Un sells workers to Russian companies

North Korea supports Russia with soldiers in the war against Ukraine. Now research shows that Pyongyang also makes money from temporary workers in Russia.

Lengthy research has uncovered a network that sends North Korean workers to companies in… Russia conveyed. The human rights organization Global Rights Compliance has published the results in a report. Accordingly, those affected would have to work up to 18 hours a day and pay up to 90 percent of their wages to the North Korean government.

According to the report, the focus of the network is Moscow businessman Vladimir Sokolov. He runs an online platform called KNDR.su, through which North Korean workers are offered to Russian employers. The network collects a commission of up to 1,600 euros for each worker placed.

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The revenue for North Korea’s state flows into the country’s missile program. Earned according to estimates North Korea Up to $800 million annually with forced labor abroad.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is considered a close ally of the Russian leader Vladimir Putin in the war against Russia. North Korean soldiers are fighting alongside Putin’s army. Now the posting of workers is also becoming known.

Control over workers is maintained through restrictions on their freedom of movement, according to the report. According to the available evidence, anyone who violates their contract will face “serious consequences in their home country.”

The EU had already imposed sanctions on Sokolow on October 12, 2026 and frozen all of his assets. The reason for this is his role in promoting industrial cooperation projects with North Korea.

According to Global Rights Compliance, the income from the program is intended, among other things, to finance the North Korean missile program and strengthen the Russian economy.