U.S. envoy criticizes countries employing North Korean workers

A U.S. presidential envoy criticized South Korea, Russia and other countries that hire North Korean workers, arguing the wages are being diverted to the government, possible for its nuclear arms development.

In an opinion piece to the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Jay Lefkowitz said Russia, the Czech Republic, Mongolia, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Angola are some of the countries that contract labor with North Korea.

Some 10,000 to 15,000 North Koreans work abroad for their government, often volunteering despite the harsh conditions to escape even worse situations at home, Lefkowitz said.

"Because the North Korean government takes a major portion of workers' salaries, these arrangements provide material support for a rogue government, its nuclear ambitions, and its human-rights atrocities," he said.

Such practice violates the spirit of U.N. Security Council resolutions that expressed concerns over North Korea's treatment of its own people and punished the communist regime for its missile and nuclear tests, Lefkowitz wrote.

The envoy was appointed by President George W. Bush in the summer of 2005 to handle North Korean human rights issues. The appointment was mandated by legislation passed unanimously by the Congress to help North Korean refugees and press Pyongyang to improve its human rights record.

Lefkowitz has spoken out often against various economic projects in place with North Korea, citing a lack of transparency and poor labor standards.

In his opinion piece, the envoy said the wages are deposited in North Korean government accounts rather than paid directly to the workers, who are often treated like prisoners, forbidden from leaving the work areas or taking days off.

In Russia, he said, the North Korean workers are reportedly paid in coupons that turn out to be nearly worthless.

"This activity runs afoul of a U.N. protocol on trafficking in persons, to which Russia is a party," he said.

The Czech Republic deposits salaries to Pyongyang's government accounts, leaving the workers with only about 20 percent of what they are supposed to be paid, Lefkowitz said.

The envoy repeated his skepticism about Kaesong Industrial Complex, an inter-Korean business venture initiated by Seoul, which wanted to combine South Korea's capital with North Korea's cheap labor to manufacture price-competitive products.

Seoul also wanted to use the venture as a means to open up the closed North Korean society.

"To date, however, those benefits seem more theoretical than real," wrote Lefkowitz.

"Rather, it is more likely that the hard currency these countries are sending to North Korea will end up funding the regime's nuclear aspirations instead of improving living conditions for the people of North Korea."

Washington, Jan. 10 (Yonhap News)