Russia recruits North Korean workers on student visas, rights group says

How the scheme works

The Hague-based Global Rights Compliance (GRC) says Russian brokers, backed by Pyongyang, bring North Korean workers into Russia on student visas that list them as students on work placements. Investigators tie the operation to the KNDR.su platform, run by Moscow businessman Vladimir Sokolov, who is under EU sanctions. Brokers charge 100,000 to 150,000 roubles per worker (about $1,240 to $1,860), and a single order must be at least 50 people. Companies that want workers must first pass an inspection by representatives of the North Korean embassy in Moscow, which GRC says confirms the state's role in the trade. GRC legal adviser Elise Lauriot Prevost framed the findings this way:

“This investigation exposes a dangerous convergence between two states' military ambitions,”

Working conditions and pay

The platform's archived advertisements offer employers teams of 50 to 100 workers who will work 12 hours a day, 28 days a month. The ads promise that the workers will not be late, skip shifts, drink or fight, and that they "will not run away", pointing to the embassy's control of their documents and "serious consequences" at home for breaking contracts. According to the findings, workers are forced to stay on the job through coercion and threats against them and their families, with only two days off a month. The same findings say 80 to 90 percent of their earnings go to the regime in Pyongyang. Investigators found workers hired at production sites, including a military rations factory, and the findings name KPP Ruskon, a maker of rations for the army, and Agrisovgaz, a supplier to the defence industry.

Sanctions and the wider labour pipeline

A 2017 UN Security Council resolution bars work permits for North Korean citizens and required their repatriation by the end of 2019, which is why the student-visa route matters. A September report by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team counts 35,000 to 101,000 North Korean citizens working in 12 countries, generating up to $800 million a year for Pyongyang.

Lara Strangways, GRC's head of business and human rights, said the labour is helping to deepen ties between the two countries.

“Their labour props up Russian industry, including sites linked to the war in Ukraine, while the revenue they generate helps fund North Korea's military programme.”

Sokolov was named a subject of EU sanctions in October 2026, along with two companies, for commercial and industrial co-operation with Pyongyang. South Korea's intelligence agency says North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops since 2024 to fight alongside Russians in Ukraine, along with weapons.

Responses and open questions

Russia's foreign ministry and the North Korean embassy in Moscow did not answer emails seeking comment. GRC says it contacted two Russians it identified as key figures in the network, and only one replied, denying the accusation. The evidence base includes archived advertisements, Russian corporate and procurement records, and social media photos and videos, which GRC says it checked using geolocation and metadata. One customer review of KNDR.su on the Russian portal Yandex praised the workers' output, productivity and discipline. No source gives a total for the number of workers placed through the platform.