300 People Suspected Of Being Workers From North Korea Arrived In Russia

JAKARTA - About 300 people suspected of being workers from North Korea (North Korea) arrived in Russia by train earlier this month.

The North Koreans arrived in the midst of increasingly close cooperation between the North Korean government and Russia.

Citing a source in Russia, Cho Han-bum, a senior researcher at the state-funded Korean National Unification Institute, said hundreds of North Korean workers were seen getting off the train at a station near Vladivostok on February 5.

"They were seen carrying packages, but if they saw their clothes, at first glance they looked like workers, not tourists," Cho said on Wednesday, February 14, quoted by Antara.

He ruled out the possibility that they were students or officials on diplomatic missions.

He said the men looked like the first group of North Korean workers the North Korean government seemed to be sending to Russia.

If true, Cho said the measure was a violation of the United Nations Security Council (UN) resolution which prohibited North Korea from sending workers abroad.

All UN members are required to repatriate every North Korean who earns income in their jurisdiction no later than the end of 2019 according to UN DK Resolution 2397. The resolution was passed in 2017.

South Korea's National Intelligence Agency refused to confirm the arrival of hundreds of North Koreans in Russia.

"We continue to monitor the situation related to the delivery of North Korean workers to Russia," he said.

North Korea and Russia have expanded their cooperation field following a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in September last year.