German broadcaster reports North Korean workers treated as slaves at Russian drone factory

[Financial News]  A report has found that up to 12,000 North Korean workers at a Russian drone production plant are suffering serious human rights abuses and human trafficking. The North Korean regime is reportedly taking as much as 90% of their wages to earn foreign currency.
On the 20th (local time), Germany's Deutsche Welle (DW) reported that a joint report released on the 14th by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the George W. Bush Institute said large numbers of North Korean workers had been deployed to a drone factory in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Russia's Republic of Tatarstan, where they were subjected to forced labor tantamount to human trafficking.
The report analyzed that Russia, North Korea, China and Iran are colluding to build a production system for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) centered on this factory.
The report noted that Russia is securing at least 5,500 drones a month for use in its war of aggression against Ukraine, while China supplies key dual-use components for military and civilian applications, including batteries, internal electronic components, engines and navigation systems. It said Iran provides Shahed drone technology, helping Russia produce upgraded drones domestically, while North Korea earns large amounts of foreign currency by sending workers abroad.
Troy University professor Daniel Pinkston said, "The geographic positions of these four countries are interconnected, making any blockade or intervention by the international community impossible."
This situation is a direct violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2397, adopted in December 2017. The resolution requires all UN member states to repatriate North Korean workers in their territories within two years.
'The Global Alliance to Stop Genocide in North Korea' scholar and human rights activist Professor Song Young-chae said, "The North Korean regime sells its citizens' labor in transactions between countries, controls their ability to leave the country and collects most of their wages." She condemned this as "clearly forced labor and modern-day slavery at the state level."
Professor Song added that, in addition to the Alabuga factory, North Koreans are working at construction sites in occupied parts of Ukraine and in Russian logging operations, among other places, and that tens of thousands of North Korean troops are being sent to the front lines as cannon fodder.
Experts agreed that Russia and China, both permanent members of the UN Security Council, have effectively rendered the international sanctions regime against North Korea powerless by completely disregarding sanctions. Professor Pinkston warned, "The international order based on the rule of law and human rights, built after World War II, is being destroyed."
A major concern is that North Korea is acquiring drone technology and battlefield data—central to modern warfare—through its participation in this war and the dispatch of workers. DW reported that as North Korea advances its next-generation drone capabilities, this is expected to pose a serious threat to South Korea's military defense systems.

[email protected] Yoon Jae-jun Reporter