Tag: Korea

North Korea Pimps Out Citizens to Russia

Reuters has a fascinating account of North Korean forced labour in Russia. The North Korean government ships labor teams, a holdover from the Soviet era, to Vladivostok where they live in dormitories and work for Russians under the strict supervision of plainclothes DPRK police. North Korea's compelled to turn out their labor force to gain hard currency. The North Korean labor force is all over it: officials in the DPRK are being bribed for spots on the teams. The piece doesn't mention it, but there would certainly be consequences to allowing these labor teams to see how a capitalist system works -- even if it's Russia.

SARS & KOREA: 2 Worries at once

Looking to consolidate your time worrying about global crises? Why not worry about North Korea getting SARS? So far neither Korea says they have it. North Korea claims to have set up a vague "brisk" defense against the disease. Would they really be able to detect it? Or fight it given that their population is starving and living in basically the dark ages, at least as far as electricity is concerned. So far SARS has been largely among health care workers and international business travellers. Having a negligible economy and scant tourist traffic, North Korea's isolation may serve it well with SARS. And even though its refugees flee to China, its border isn't near the south where most SARS cases are. More worrying is that the SARS chief victims so far -- the nurses and executives -- are the people most likely to get the very best care. What happens if starts slipping into the poor underground populations like illegal immigrants?