Foreign Affairs

soryang

(3,299 posts) Sat Dec 21, 2019, 11:56 PM Dec 2019

A UN deadline is forcing North Korea's global workers to go home. Some never will.

Stars and Stripes

By MIN JOO KIM AND SIMON DENYER | The Washington Post | Published: December 21, 2019

SEOUL, South Korea — For decades, there was a state-approved path out of North Korea: jobs abroad for selected workers to raise money for the regime and have a rare opportunity to boost the lives of their families back home.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans were assigned to places such as clothing factories in China, logging camps in Russia and North Korean restaurants from Dubai to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The U.N. Security Council says that this all must end Sunday, when sanctions take effect that ban countries from hosting the North's regime-directed workforce, and that those workers must all be sent back. The U.N. clampdown seeks to block a steady flow of revenue back to Kim Jong Un's ruling clique.

The United States vetoed a proposal by China and Russia to roll back the planned sanctions and allow workers to remain...

More: https://www.stripes.com/a-un-deadline-is-forcing-north-korea-s-global-workers-to-go-home-some-never-will-1.612066

This is an interesting article about the experiences of North Korean workers employed in foreign countries abroad. I think the more exposure North Koreans get to the outside world, the sooner the day will come when North Korea fails. In this sense, it may be counterproductive to attempt to completely cut off its people from the outside world.

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A UN deadline is forcing North Korea's global workers to go home. Some never will. (Original Post) soryang Dec 2019 OP

"The United States vetoed"... the master negotiator at work? keithbvadu2 Dec 2019 #1

From UN Resolution 2397 soryang Dec 2019 #2

Richard Nephew has the described the costs of maximum pressure in the sanctions regime soryang Dec 2019 #3

keithbvadu2

(36,829 posts)

1. "The United States vetoed"... the master negotiator at work?

Reply to soryang (Original post)

Sun Dec 22, 2019, 12:15 AM

Dec 2019

"The United States vetoed"... the master negotiator at work?

soryang

(3,299 posts)

2. From UN Resolution 2397

Reply to soryang (Original post)

Sun Dec 22, 2019, 01:27 AM

Dec 2019

Resolution 2397 (2017)
Adopted by the Security Council at its 8151st meeting, on
22 December 2017
The Security Council

8. Expresses concern that DPRK nationals continue to work in other States
for the purpose of generating foreign export earnings that the DPRK uses to support
its prohibited nuclear and ballistic missile programs despite the adoption of paragraph
17 of resolution 2375 (2017), decides that Member States shall repatriate to the DPRK
all DPRK nationals earning income in that Member State’s jurisdiction and all DPRK
government safety oversight attachés monitoring DPRK workers abroad immediately
but no later than 24 months from the date of adoption of this resolution unless the
Member State determines that a DPRK national is a national of that Member State or
a DPRK national whose repatriation is prohibited, subject to applicable national and
international law, including international refugee law and international human rights
law, and the United Nations Headquarters Agreement and the Convention on the
Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, and further decides that all Member
States shall provide a midterm report by 15 months from the date of adoption of this
resolution of all DPRK nationals earning income in that Member State’s jurisdiction
that were repatriated over the 12 month period starting from the date of adoption of
this resolution, including an explanation of why less than half of such DPRK nationals
were repatriated by the end of that 12 month period if applicable, and all Member
States shall provide final reports by 27 months from the date of adoption of this
resolution;

http://unscr.com/en/resolutions/doc/2397

So the North Korean foreign workers were supposed to be repatriated by today 12/22/2019. There was a big fuss when two North Koreans who were suspected of murder were recently returned to North Korea expeditiously when they fell into the hands of South Korean authorities, but returning all North Korean workers to North Korea under the provisions of this UN resolution is official US and UN policy. The UN finding that the wages are used to support weapons programs in North Korea is the basis for the sanction in question.

soryang

(3,299 posts)

3. Richard Nephew has the described the costs of maximum pressure in the sanctions regime

Reply to soryang (Original post)

Sun Dec 22, 2019, 01:34 AM

Dec 2019

...particularly with respect to China.

Furious Futility: Maximum Pressure in 2020
BY: RICHARD NEPHEW
NOVEMBER 15, 2019 COMMENTARY

...The Trump administration, in particular, signaled in the fall of 2017 that it was prepared to sanction Chinese banks that held North Korean assets as well as any other entities or individuals conducting business with the regime.

But that was then. The issue today is whether the administration has the political will to prioritize the North Korean issue above others with other countries, especially China, which could put at risk other US equities. The US-China agenda is loaded down with a number of other contentious issues that are arguably more central to US national interests at this juncture, including a trade deal and Chinese behavior toward Iran, and the South China Sea....

From 38North “38 North, a webjournal that provides analysis and insights into North Korea“

https://www.38north.org/2019/11/rnephew111519/

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