China Accepting Thousands of North Korean Workers, Sources Say; Move Believed to Be Aimed at Improving China-North Korea Ties

By Shotaro Demizu / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

20:00 JST, June 27, 2025

SHENYANG, China — China has been accepting thousands of workers from North Korea since the beginning of this year, according to sources familiar with China-North Korea relations.

The United Nations Security Council prohibits the provision of work authorizations for North Korean nationals under its sanction measures, and China is believed to have violated these sanctions.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s administration has apparently been trying to secure cheap labor amid the country’s economic turndown while attempting to improve relations with North Korea.

According to the sources, about 3,000 North Korean workers arrived in Hunchun, Jilin Province, by March, and about 500 arrived in Dandong, Liaoning Province, in May.

Most of them are young women who have been sent to work at garment factories and seafood processing plants in these northeastern provinces bordering North Korea. Acceptance of such workers have been discussed in other regions. The sources said it was “unlikely that local governments would unilaterally accept [such] workers.”

In 2017, the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution imposing sanctions on North Korea, prohibiting member states from providing work authorizations to North Korean nationals in principle. The sanctions were imposed on the grounds that the money the workers earned would be used to fund Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile development. The resolution obliged member states to repatriate North Korean nationals by December 2019.

In China, the return of the North Korean workers to their country began in earnest in summer 2023, after travel between the two countries became possible following the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the Xi administration has been cautious about accepting new workers.

Last year marked the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and North Korea, but few related events were held, and the relationship was said to have cooled. Some viewed China’s reluctance to accept workers from North Korea as one of the reasons for this.

China may have moved to improve relations with North Korea following U.S. President Donald Trump’s positive stance regarding dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in addition to North Korea becoming closer with Russia.