200 young North Korean women from South Pyongan Province were sent to Shenyang in China last year to work, Daily NK has learned. Though the group’s parents have been informed that the work is in a packing plant, doubts linger over this narrative.

“I heard directly from the managing director of a foreign

currency-earning firm in South Pyongan Province that 200 women aged 18 to 19 were sent to Shenyang in July last year to begin work as ‘shellfish packers.’ He said they are expected to remain there for the

next 3 to 5 years,” a Daily NK source in the province said on the 10th.

The source explained that while it is increasingly common for the North Korean regime to send workers overseas to bolster the governing funds of Kim Jong Eun, it is newsworthy for such a large number of people to be dispatched to a single region in this way.

She also reported that another group of ideologically sound young

women from Yangkang Province were selected and given health checks at around the same time. However, the second group has not been sent abroad to date. The families of both groups had no say in the selection process; the women were hand-picked by the authorities.

“The young women were all over 160cm and beautiful with good songbun. The parents couldn’t say a thing about it as

they were selected on the orders of the Upper [authorities],” the source recounted. In any case, “People are

obviously suspicious why beautiful women in their 20s would be required for labor like this, as it would make more sense to choose strong men. Since the very act of trying to find out is illegal, parents just suffer in silence. There hasn’t been a case of a group of women being sent off together like this before.”

In response to doubts about the official explanation of the expected tasks of the young women, the authorities even sent the

head of the foreign currency-earning enterprise to assuage parents’ fears and put a lid on any rumors, it has emerged.

“He had to go to the home of each individual woman and

tell them that their daughter was working packaging shellfish in China, that she

had accommodation provided, and that she was making around US$100 a month. He told

them wages hadn’t been paid yet, but to wait a little bit longer,”

the source explained.

There is a lack of official statistics on the number and nature of North Korean

laborers legally in China. However, it is

believed they only receive around 10-20% of their average wage of US$150-200. The remaining percentage is taken by the authorities for a range of costs, including food and accommodation, tax and “loyalty payments.”

Shenyang is home to North Korean businesses across a number of sectors, including the well known Chilbosan Hotel.