Unpaid salary sparks fatal protest by North Korean workers at Chinese factories

These incidents took place in January at Chinese factories manufacturing medical products and a seafood cannery in the city of Helong, located in the northeastern province of Jilin. The events, which disrupted the operational flow of these factories for several weeks, led to an investigation involving the arrest of a security officer and the fatal beating of the manager of one of the Chinese businesses. The government is now examining these incidents.

According to reports in the Japanese newspaper "Yomiuri," Koreans sent to work in China under the Kim Jong-un regime were treated as poorly as they would have been in their own country due to the forced labour conditions. For months, they didn't receive any part of the salary owed to them after the state commission deduction.

This case involves a large group of over 2,000 individuals sent to work in China by a trading company associated with the North Korean Ministry of Defense. The confirmation of the riots comes from the Japanese newspaper "Yomiuri," citing North Korean sources.

In what has been reported by Radio Free Asia as the first large-scale protest by North Korean workers in China, the majority of the protesters were men over 20 who had completed their basic military service, according to Japanese reports.

The newspaper reports that the uproar was triggered by news that workers who returned to North Korea last year had not received their owed salaries.

As per the Japanese reports, the anger directed towards the Chinese employer seems misplaced. It's more likely that the North Korean company, which is responsible for sending these workers held back their salaries. The entire sum may have been seized by the state, disguised as a "war preparation fund".

Based on agreements between companies, North Korean workers in the Jilin province receive a monthly salary ranging from about £50 to £100. The North Korean firms that dispatched these workers to China are paid between £250 to £280 per worker by their Chinese counterparts, leaving only £50 to £100 for the workers themselves.

Allegedly, the total amount seized reached into the millions of dollars. The managerial staff of the company probably embezzled this.

The North Korean authorities pacified the workers by returning their salaries but also identified about 200 workers who led the riots, subsequently deporting them back to their home country. According to a North Korean source who informed the Japanese newspaper, the leaders of the revolt were sent to a political prison camp and severely punished.