North Korea wants workers to stay in Russia, despite UN sanctions
Moscow — North Korea has petitioned the Russian parliament to help 3,500 migrant workers from the isolated Asian country stay in Russia despite new UN sanctions, the Interfax news agency reported on Friday, citing a Russian lawmaker. Tougher sanctions on North Korea, imposed by the UN Security Council over Pyongyang’s ballistic missile and nuclear programmes on September 11, banned countries from providing new work permits for North Korean nationals, but allowed existing workers to remain. Most of the about 30,000 to 40,000 North Korean migrants legally working in Russia were hired before the new sanctions entered into force and the ban will not affect them, Interfax said, quoting an earlier statement from Maxim Topilin, Russia’s labour minister. But the ban could apply to 3,500 workers who only signed their contracts in September, the month when the UN Security Council, including Russia, voted for the new sanctions, Interfax reported. It cited Kazbek Taysayev, a lawmaker in the low...
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