Chain of slavery in North Korea

The Dong-A Ilbo has been covering stories of North Korean workers trying to earn foreign money in Qatar since Tuesday. It has been reported that as much as 2,600 North Korean workers are forced to work 14 hours a day at construction sites in Qatar, under a scorching heat, where temperature soars beyond 50 degrees Celsius. Though they are contracted to receive 900 dollars a month, only 150-200 dollars are paid for their labor. Meals are automatically paid from their salary, but foods are too poor to fill their empty stomach. They are roaming around and scavenging for anything edible. Even worse, they stay in a temporary container where proper sewer system is not installed. Their life is nothing but the system of slavery.

In order to earn extra money to be contributed to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the name of governing fund, North Korean workers even break the law in Qatar. North Koreans make liquor at a secret brewery and sell to other foreign workers. The secret brewery business has become a significant cash cow to North Koreans, because they are in increasingly desperate conditions to earn more money after the Qatar government suspended issuing new visas in May. It is shameful to see North Koreans violating laws of their residing country intentionally in order to support the communist system.

The story told by Thae Yong Ho, North Korea’s deputy ambassador to Britain who defected to the South, to South Korean assembly members was no different at all. North Korean society can only be described as modern-day slavery. Senior military leaders and national security officials are forced to live in certain apartments that have been wired for monitoring, and it is nothing more than an invisible prison cell. Thae also shared a story that Hyun Yong Chol, former defense chief of the People's Armed Forces, was executed last May after his conversation at home was tapped.

Thae also said that North Koreans stealthily watch South Korea’s dramas at night and yearn for different lifestyles and gather in a small market and engage in practices of fundamental capitalism. It has been known that Thae told his two sons before defecting to the South, “At this moment, I will break you free from the chain of slavery.” His account leaves one significant message to us.

The U.N. General Assembly passed a North Korean resolution to criticize violation of human rights of North Korean workers abroad, while clarifying Kim Jong Un’s accountability. We must continue making efforts to pressure the North Korean regime and let the world be aware of dire situations in North Korea in order to liberate North Koreans from the chain of slavery.