Chae Sung Chol, a state security officer attached to a North Korean construction company in the Russian city of Irkutsk, is currently the focus of much criticism from North Korean workers at the company.
Although the United Nations Security Council banned new work permits for North Korean workers abroad through Resolution 2375 – requiring them to return home by the end of 2019 – North Korea continues to send workers to Russia to earn foreign currency through construction-related contracts.
North Korean workers in Russia earn foreign currency through projects assigned to them by the companies with which they are affiliated. On the side, however, they secretly work other jobs and try to collect money for themselves. Chae, for his part, allegedly demands and receives large bribes in exchange for turning a blind eye to these “under-the-table” business activities.
Chae is also cracking down on workers who use cell phones under the pretext of the Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Act, which was enacted in late 2020. All the while, he carries around a luxury smartphone and enjoys watching South Korean movies and dramas.
According to an anonymous whistleblower who spoke directly to Daily NK about Chae’s abuses, North Korean workers in Russia try to endure the misconduct and behavior of their managers but usually give up on petitioning the government when they realize that such whistleblowing will go nowhere.
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