24 Jan
Russia says it is complying with a United Nations resolution on repatriating workers from North Korea. But experts point out that Russia is accepting illegal workers by issuing more student and tourist visas.
A 2017 UN Security Council resolution demanded the repatriation of all North Korean workers by December 22 last year to stop them earning foreign currency for the country's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters on Thursday that the majority of North Korean workers had left the country.
Zakharova said that around 1,000 North Koreans are still in Russia because of limited transport options. But she added they are no longer working because their work permits have expired.
Recent Russian Interior Ministry statistics show that Russia issued nearly 27,000 tourist and student visas to North Koreans last year. That's about a six-fold increase from the previous year.
The number of working visas granted to North Koreans decreased by 16 percent to 7,400.
Experts says the figures indicate that many North Koreans are continuing to work in Russia by using other types of visas.
NHK
