Russia is looking for jobs for entire teams of women from North Korea
In Russia, companies are now being offered entire teams of female workers from North Korea. These women are being recruited for work in manufacturing, sewing workshops, agriculture, and cafes and restaurants. The proposed hourly wage starts at 480 rubles, and the workers can only be hired as a complete team.
A Russian outsourcing company posted an offer on the Avito platform for businesses to hire female workers from North Korea. According to the Telegram channel “Oberezhno, Novosti,” the groups consist of approximately 40 women each. They are being offered for various types of work. Options include assembly line production, sewing workshops, agriculture, cafes, and restaurants. According to the company, North Korean workers have proven particularly skilled at making sushi rolls.
Employers are promised high productivity and low employee turnover as key benefits. It is also noted that workers can be hired year-round. However, there is an important condition: hiring individual women is not permitted. The employer must hire the entire team at once, and the workers are not allowed to be separated.
Separate housing must also be arranged for them. This could be a separate floor or an entire building. Employment relationships are proposed to be formalized under a contract-for-service agreement, and pay starts at 480 rubles per hour.
The number of North Korean citizens in Russia has increased
These job offers come amid a noticeable increase in the number of North Korean citizens arriving in Russia. In 2025, Russian authorities issued 36,413 visas to North Korean citizens. This is nearly four times more than the previous year. Most of these visas were issued as student visas.
At the same time, according to South Korean intelligence, as of May 2025, there were about 15,000 North Korean migrant workers in Russia. They worked primarily in the Far East. The increase in the number of North Korean workers in Russia is drawing attention not only because of the scale of this labor migration. Human rights activists are also raising concerns about the conditions in which North Korean citizens may find themselves.
Human rights activists point to strict control
A report by the human rights organization Global Rights Compliance highlighted potential serious violations of the rights of North Korean workers in Russia. In particular, some construction workers were reportedly forced to work up to 16 hours a day with almost no days off. Constant surveillance of workers is cited as a separate issue. Yunik Kim, a researcher at the North Korean Human Rights Center (NKDB), noted that North Korean workers may face repression.
According to her, the North Korean authorities confiscate the documents of some workers, restrict their movement, and limit their ability to communicate with others. In addition, a portion of their earnings may be withheld. These conditions differ from typical labor migration, where workers independently choose their employer and place of residence and are free to leave their jobs. In the case of North Korean citizens, human rights advocates highlight precisely the possibility of strict control and restrictions on their rights.
It is not yet known exactly how many such work brigades are already operating in Russia or how many companies have taken advantage of this hiring scheme. At the same time, the very appearance of public job offers for groups of dozens of North Korean women indicates that Russian businesses are increasingly seeking labor outside the country, according to Russian media reports.
Russian authorities may tighten control over the internet and impose restrictions similar to those that have long been in place in North Korea. According to forecasts, Russians could lose access to the open internet as they know it within the next two years.
