The Netherlands-based foundation Global Rights Compliance revealed that a commercial broker network arranges placements in Russian agriculture, construction, IT, and military-industrial sites. Recruited personnel are subjected to 12-hour shifts six days a week after being registered at educational institutions they never actually attend. Moscow issued over 36,000 student visas to North Koreans in 2025 alone, representing a fourfold increase despite existing international bans on hosting foreign labour from the regime.
Key points
The fraudulent student visa scheme directly violates a 2017 United Nations Security Counc…: The fraudulent student visa scheme directly violates a 2017 United Nations Security Council resolution banning overseas North Korean workers.
Pyongyang utilizes global overseas labour networks to generate hundreds of millions of do…: Pyongyang utilizes global overseas labour networks to generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually for its ballistic missile programme.
Bilateral economic and military cooperation has accelerated following the 2024 mutual def…: Bilateral economic and military cooperation has accelerated following the 2024 mutual defence treaty ratified by Moscow and Pyongyang.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Russian broker network recruiting North Korean labourers using student visas, Global Rights Compliance report says.
North Korean workers are being recruited into forced labour in Russia by a broker network using bogus student enrolments, according to a months-long investigation by an international law foundation.
The network brings North Koreans into Russia on student visas to skirt United Nations sanctions and labour law, as part of a state-sponsored work programme that helps fund Pyongyang’s ballistic missile development, according to the Global Rights Compliance report released on Thursday.
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