Report alleges North Korean workers are being brokered into Russia under forced-labour conditions

A new investigation has alleged that Russian brokers are advertising North Korean workers to companies and placing them in jobs under forced-labour conditions. The report says the workers are being sent into sectors tied to Russia's war economy, while most of their earnings are diverted away from them. It also alleges that the arrangement helps finance North Korea's ballistic missile programme.

The investigation was carried out over nine months by the human rights group Global Rights Compliance, which said its researchers posed undercover as representatives of a prospective company. According to the report, the network is run by Moscow-based businessman Vladimir Sokolov. It says the brokers charge a commission of between 100,000 and 150,000 roubles, or about $1,765 to $2,650, for each North Korean worker placed with a company.

The report alleges that the workers are made to labour for up to 12 hours a day, six to seven days a week. It says they forfeit most of their income to North Korea's authorities, and that some are sent to facilities described as essential to Russia's war economy. The group's lead investigator said the findings showed the normalisation of slave-labour conditions in Russia, and described the workers as being treated like commodities.

The allegations are significant because they point to a labour pipeline that appears to serve both Moscow and Pyongyang at a time of heightened sanctions pressure. North Korean overseas labour has long been a concern for governments and rights groups because wages earned abroad are widely seen as a source of foreign currency for the North Korean state. The report says the arrangement also breaches a United Nations Security Council resolution requiring member states to repatriate North Koreans earning money in their territory.

The findings add to a wider body of reporting on North Korean labour abroad, particularly in Russia and China. The report says tens of thousands of North Korean labourers working in those countries reportedly raised as much as $800 million last year for Kim Jong Un's nuclear weapons programme. That figure, if accurate, would underline the scale of the financial benefit Pyongyang can derive from overseas labour placements despite international sanctions.

The report also raises questions about how such labour is being marketed and moved inside Russia. It says the workers are being advertised online to Russian businesses, suggesting a more organised commercial system than isolated recruitment. The alleged involvement of a Moscow-based broker points to a domestic network operating within Russia rather than a purely informal arrangement.

The report does not say how many workers are currently involved in the network, and the allegations have not been independently verified in the material provided. It is also unclear which companies may have used the workers or whether any Russian authorities have opened an investigation. What remains to be seen is whether the findings lead to enforcement action, sanctions scrutiny or further evidence of how North Korean labour is being channelled into Russia's economy.

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