북한 인력 해외 송출의 분석과 함의

Characteristics and Implications of North Koreans’ Overseas Labor

This paper examines North Korea’s policy of sending workers abroad, which constitutes a substantial part of the country’s foreign earnings. As the world’s most reclusive country, North Korea strictly forbids travel and contact with the outside world. The reason for this insulation is to prevent information from the outside world from flowing into North Korea, and vice versa, to suppress information about North Korea. Thus, the fact that the number of North Korean workers working abroad has increased despite the harsh restrictions, makes it a curious issue. This paper aims to provide an overview and situational analysis which helps to identify the main characteristics of North Korean workers abroad, the numbers of which have been increasing after the famine of the 1990s, known as the “Arduous March.” Beginning with North Korean carpenters working in Russia during the 1960s, currently there are approximately 80,000 North Koreans working in 16 countries. Over the past 50 years, there have been changes coinciding with the internal and external situation in North Korea, but in general there has been a gradual increase and development in this area. The study divides the time frame into three distinct periods: the Formation Period (1967 to 1991), the Expansion Period (1992 to 2010) and the Developmental Period (2011 to present) and analyzes the transformations over time, as well the unique characteristics in regards to the respective host countries. Two major turning points are identified: the breakup of the Soviet Union and South Korea’s announcement of its May 24th Measures.