Russia denies violating UN restriction on North Korean labourers – Reports
Moscow, Aug. 3, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Russia’s ambassador to North Korea Amb. Alexander Matsegora on Friday said Moscow had not violated UN sanctions restricting the employment of North Korean labourers and had not brought in any new workers from the country, Interfax news agency reported.
“Any new work permits that were issued to North Korean workers in Russia were for labourers already located in the country and working under old contracts,” Matsegora was cited as saying by Interfax.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Russia is allowing thousands of North Korean labourers into the country and giving them new work permits in what U.S. officials say appear to be violations of UN sanctions.
“Over 10,000 new North Korean workers have registered in Russia since September,’’ it said citting records from the Russian Interior Ministry.
U.S. officials said Russia’s actions appear to violate UN sanctions imposed in September, which barred governments from issuing new work permits to North Koreans, although they allowed some existing labor contracts to stay in place.
The sanctions are aimed at reducing cash flows that North Korea uses to finance its weapons programs, thus putting pressure on Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.
North Korea has a guest-work program that primarily has sent workers to China and Russia with a mission of earning cash income that is sent back to Pyongyang, with the government keeping most of the earnings.
Moscow and Beijing agreed to stop taking in new workers last year in what was seen at the time as a significant concession to U.S. demands for stricter sanctions on North Korea.
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal said that Labour Ministry records it obtained showed that a minimum of 700 new work permits have been issued to North Koreans in Russia this year.
It said that the UN officials are probing whether the sanctions, which allow only narrow exceptions, are being violated.
The Russian Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.
“It’s absolutely clear that Russia needs to do more.
“Russia says it wants better relations with the U.S., so Moscow should prove that by cooperating with us, not working against us, on this urgent threat to all nations,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson told Reuters.
“It is estimated that North Korean laborers in Russia send between 150 million dollars to 300 million dollars annually to Pyongyang.
Now is the time for Russia to take action: Moscow should immediately and fully implement all the UN sanctions that it has signed onto,” the State Department spokesperson said. (Reuters/NAN)
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Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Silas Nwoha