North Koreans will build Donetsk and Luhansk
The Russian ambassador in Pyongyang said yesterday that North Korean wage workers may be sent to pro-Russian territories in Ukraine, which are almost entirely under the control of Russian forces.
- There are great opportunities. North Korean workers may help rebuild war-torn infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk. In Korea, there are "highly skilled and hardworking builders, who are able to work in the most difficult conditions possible. They can help us rebuild industrial facilities and infrastructure.
Sending workers to other countries is already a common practice of North Korea, which has no other way to get foreign currencies. Under United Nations sanctions against Pyongyang, all North Korean migrant workers had to return to their country by the end of 2019, but most remained to work in China and Russia, as well as in Laos and Vietnam.
As of a few days ago, North Korea is the only country in the world, besides Russia, that recognizes the two pro-Russian regions in Ukraine as independent. Pyongyang accused Kyiv of being "part of the hostile front that the United States is building against North Korea."
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kuleba, responded that the move was actually "an indicator that Russia no longer has any allies in the world, except for countries that are financially and politically dependent on Moscow."