Nordkorea - bisarrt, fascinerande, sjukt

LONDON, July 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - North Korea has sent hundreds of workers to labour as "state-sponsored slaves" in EU nations as Pyongyang seeks to circumvent international sanctions aimed at starving it of money over its nuclear weapons programme, rights campaigners said on Wednesday.

North Korean labourers commonly work 10-12 hour shifts, six days a week, but up to 90 percent of their pay is sent back to the hermit state, according to the European Alliance for Human Rights in North Korea (EAHRNK).

Most are working in Polish shipyards, construction sites and farms. North Koreans are also employed in leisure and clothing firms in Malta, and have worked in other EU countries, it said.
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A U.N. report last year estimated there were over 50,000 North Koreans working abroad, earning the state $1.2 billion to $2.3 billion annually, although some experts question these figures.

Most are labouring in Russia and China. Others are working in African countries and on construction sites in the Middle East, including in Qatar which is preparing to host the 2022 World Cup.

But EU countries are more attractive for North Korea because wages are higher, Glendinning said.
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North Koreans do not have proper contracts or payslips, must surrender their passports and face restrictions in their movements, Glendinning said. They are also kept under surveillance and have to participate in ideological study sessions.
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Campaigners say North Koreans are vetted closely before being sent overseas to minimise the risk of defection.

"They only select workers who are married and have children - hostage-taking essentially," Glendinning said.

"If they were to defect the family would likely face some kind of punishment in a political prison camp, a re-education camp or - in extreme cases - execution."

North Korean border patrol guards have been ordered to capture snakes apparently released by South Korea to wreak havoc in its northern neighbour, sources have claimed.

Pyongyang is said to have told the military that Seoul’s spy agency is behind the unseasonably high number of snakes in Ryanggang province, which borders China.

“Earlier this month, border patrol units received orders to capture snakes before they crawl over the banks of the Yalu River,” said a source in the province.

He added that the core message from Pyongyang was that South Korea’s National Intelligence Service was using the reptiles “as part of a ‘cunning scheme’ to challenge our unity”. Multiple sources in Ryanggang province are said to have corroborated these claims.

Det nordkoreanska flygbolaget Air Koryo har utnämnts till världens sämsta - för fjärde året i rad.

Det skriver The Independent, med hänvisning till en lista gjord av Skytrax där Air Koryo endast får en stjärna av fem möjliga. Enligt Skytrax är den främsta anledningen bolagets notoriskt dåliga service.

Ratingföretaget exemplifierar med att man vänta sig en rejäl utskällning, eller värre, från kabinpersonalen om man tar en bild ombord eller knycklar samman ett fotografi på högste ledare Kim Jong-Un. Dessutom är inte personalen särskilt förtrogen med främmande språk.