Hundreds of North Koreans still working in Poland

WARSAW, Poland -- Around 400 North Koreans are still working in Poland but the EU member has not issued any new work permits since August last year in compliance with a UN resolution, the Polish labor minister said Wednesday.

New UN sanctions passed against North Korea last month ban the supply of nearly 75 percent of refined oil products to Pyongyang, cap crude deliveries and order all North Koreans working abroad to be sent back by the end of 2019. 

“Since Aug. 5, 2017, Poland has issued no work permits for North Korean citizens,” Polish Labor Minister Elzbieta Rafalska told reporters in Warsaw.

During this period, “regional governors also withdrew 74 work permits, while a maximum 462 North Korean citizens were” in Poland, she said.

North Koreans are employed mainly in Polish shipyards. 

Deputy Labor Minister Stanislaw Szwed said that administrative measures were being used to withdraw existing permits.

“We are acting in accordance with the UN resolution and in agreement with the countries that support employment restrictions on North Korean workers,” said Szwed.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans work abroad in deplorable conditions, mainly in Russia and China, to generate valuable foreign currency revenue for Pyongyang. (AFP)