North Korean Forced Laborers in Russia Endure Brutal Conditions to Fund Kim Regime’s Weapons Programs

Thousands of North Korean workers sent to Russia under Kim Jong Un’s state-sponsored labor export program are reportedly living in conditions described as “worse than cattle,” with basic human rights severely restricted, according to intelligence assessments obtained by Reuters. These laborers, deployed across Russian cities, face extreme deprivation including being allowed only one shower per year as their wages are siphoned off to finance Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile development. The program has become a critical revenue stream for the regime’s weapons programs, with workers subjected to 18-20 hour workdays under constant surveillance. Former detainees report that escape attempts result in severe punishment, while medical care is virtually nonexistent. The arrangement has expanded since 2022, with Russia providing labor in exchange for hard currency as Western sanctions tighten around both nations’ economies. International human rights organizations have documented cases of workers collapsing from malnutrition and exhaustion, yet Moscow continues to defend the arrangement as mutually beneficial economic cooperation. The United States and United Nations have repeatedly condemned the system as modern slavery, with recent satellite imagery suggesting the number of North Korean workers in Russia has grown to approximately 30,000—a figure that represents both a human rights catastrophe and a significant funding mechanism for Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions.