North Korea discharges soldiers early to send them to Russia as laborers
North Korea has been discharging soldiers early from active military service and sending them to Russia as overseas laborers, Daily NK has learned. Families of those deployed are divided — some hoping for foreign currency earnings, others fearful for their children’s safety. A Daily NK source
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North Korea has been discharging soldiers early from active military service and sending them to Russia as overseas laborers, Daily NK has learned. Families of those deployed are divided — some hoping for foreign currency earnings, others fearful for their children’s safety.
A Daily NK source inside North Korea said Thursday that authorities selected soldiers with seven to eight years of service from military units in Ryanggang and Jagang provinces. Officials discharged them ahead of schedule late last month and sent them to Russia as workers.
The exact number dispatched, the tasks assigned, and their specific locations remain unconfirmed. Past precedent, however, points strongly toward construction work. North Korean soldiers sent to Russia have historically ended up on construction sites, and the source said most people assume this latest group is no different.
“These days, even men in their 50s and 60s are going to Russia for wool-washing work,” the source said. “But the discharged soldiers are believed to have gone mainly to the construction sector.”
The deployments have stirred conflicting reactions among families.
“There are families who think that if their son can go to Russia and earn money rather than just suffer in the military, it’s not entirely a bad thing,” the source said. “In households struggling financially, some parents are actually hopeful their child will bring back foreign currency.”
Soldiers themselves appear to share a version of this calculus. Many view overseas dispatch as preferable to muribaechi, the forced post-discharge assignment system under which demobilized soldiers face compulsory postings to coal mines or collective farms.
Anxiety over Russia deployment
Many families, however, cannot hide their anxiety. Parents who had been counting the two or three remaining years until their child’s discharge felt deflated when word came of a sudden overseas posting at the tail end of military service.
“They’ve seen parents of soldiers who died in combat abroad weeping,” the source said. “So they feel anxious even when told it’s for work, not combat. The fact that this posting is to Russia, not China, is stirring real unease.”
The source described one case that captures the depth of that anxiety. A soldier used the home of a trusted local contact to relay news of his Russia posting to his parents. The family misheard “dispatch” (파견, pakyeon) as “military deployment” (파병, pabyong) and broke down in tears.
North Korea has sent overseas workers to Russia in large numbers in recent years. The arrangement generates critical foreign currency for the state amid sweeping international sanctions. U.N. sanctions resolutions bar member states from hosting North Korean workers, but Pyongyang and Moscow have largely disregarded those restrictions.
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