Chinese firms abandon North Korean household workers, turn to prison labor for exports

2026-02-10 - 23:05

Contract manufacturing work once done by ordinary North Koreans in their homes is shifting to prisons and state-run factories as Chinese businesses reduce orders due to quality problems and fraud. Work allotted to household teams has fallen to less than half of pre-pandemic levels, according to multiple Daily NK sources recently. The decline follows a series of problems including demands for... Source