New Report Reveals North Korean Workers Are On Sale To Russian Companies In Escalating State Sponsored Forced Labour Programme

Undercover Investigation Exposes Broker Network Exploiting Workers to Fund North Korea’s Missile Programme and Bolster Russia’s War Economy

Some of the first images emerge of North Korean workers subjected to forced labour in Russia (LHS, C) and DPRK officials touring Russian factories (RHS) – See Notes to Editors for Image Caption/ Credits

Report reveals North Korean workers advertised online to fuel state- forced labour programme in Russia

Undercover investigation exposes first-hand admission from inside a Russian broker network

North Korean workers are sent to Russia under the guise of students to evade UN sanctions

Broker networks charge a commission between 100,000 to 150,000 roubles – approximately £900-£1,350 per North Korean worker

Programme funds North Korea’s expanding ballistic missile programme

Overseas forced labour currently generates between $450m – $800m for the DPRK

North Korean workers forced to work up to 18 hours per day, six to seven times a week, forfeiting 90% of their income to the North Korean regime

Russia’s need to boost workforce intensified from economic pressures and demands of Ukraine war

Workers are used in facilities essential to Russia’s war economy

Investigation exposes some of the first images of North Korean workers in Russia

Over 50,000 North Korean labourers estimated to be in Russia

Read the full report here .

[London: 29 October 2026]: Today, international law foundation Global Rights Compliance has released a new report exposing how Russian businesses are exploiting North Korean workers in a state- forced labour programme which is funding North Korea’s ballistic missile programme and bolstering Russia’s war economy.

The new report follows a nine-month investigation into a broker network run by Moscow businessman, Vladimir Sokolov. It traces the commercialisation of North Korean forced labour from recruitment and visa arrangements through to the placement of workers at individual Russian worksites where they are subjected to brutal working conditions.

Global Rights Compliance’s DPRK team is dedicated to investigating and uncovering the structures of state- forced labour affecting North Korean nationals.

The report reveals that Sokolov operates an online labour-brokering platform called KNDR.su , which markets North Korean workers for sale to prospective Russian employers. The platform charges a commission of between 100,000 to 150,000 roubles (approximately £900-£1,350) per worker for a minimum of 50 workers.

Global Rights Compliance investigators posed undercover as a prospective employer seeking to recruit North Korean workers, securing direct with the Operations Director of Sokolov’s network, Ruslan Zhukov . Zhukov confirmed that orders are accepted for at least 50 workers and admitted that North Koreans had been working in Russia since 2025.

According to the new report, North Korean workers are fictitiously enrolled at Russian colleges and placed in practical training at host companies. This structure secures student visas and avoids formal labour contracts prohibited under UN sanctions, leaving North Korean workers exposed to exploitative working conditions and abusive living arrangements.

In 2025, Russia issued 36,413 visas to North Koreans, approximately four times as many as in 2024. More than 98% of these were student visas. South Korean intelligence estimates that more than 50,000 North Korean labourers are present in Russia, many of whom reportedly receive little or no information before departing to the country.

The investigation confirmed that North Korean workers are also required to work up to 18 hours a day, six or seven days a week and forfeit 90% of their income to the North Korean government.

The report confirms that the DPRK regime is formally authorising the supply of North Korean workers to Russian businesses through Sokolov’s network.

Overseas forced labour is currently estimated to generate between $450m – $800m for the DPRK , which is channelled into the military-industrial complex that sustains the DPRK’s ballistic missile programme .

Global Rights Compliance’s investigation shows that KNDR.su requires Russian companies seeking to use North Korean workers to undergo an inspection visit from the DPRK embassy as part of certification , confirming the state- nature of the arrangement.

Using facial recognition technology , the investigation identified advisors from the DPRK embassy in Moscow touring multiple factory sites across Russia, including General Adviser Kim Huyk.

The report identifies nine sites in Russia associated with the DPRK through the Sokolov network. Two of the sites publicised by Sokolov are revealed to be connected to Russia’s war economy, suggesting that North Korean labour is directly used to fuel Russia’s military machine.

The report confirms that DPRK officials including Kim Huyk visited KPP Ruskon, one of the largest producers of military rations and canned and preserved foods , in Moscow Oblast.

Footage confirms that 30 North Korean workers were also present at KPP Ruskon , but Global Rights Compliance investigators’ estimate the true number is likely to be much higher given the network’s minimum order is 50 workers.

DPRK officials were also documented visiting Agrisovgaz in Kaluga Oblast, a US sanctioned metalworking plant whose clients include sanctioned defence, aerospace, and naval enterprises, threatening the possible deployment of forced labour within Russia’s defence supply chain.

Since Global Rights Compliance began its investigation, all material relied upon in the report has been removed from Sokolov’s website, but it has been preserved in the archived captures cited throughout the report. Sokolov was sanctioned by the EU on 12 October 2026 and has had all assets frozen for his promotion of industrial cooperation projects with the DPRK.

Lara Strangways, Head of Business and Human Rights at Global Rights Compliance, said:

“Our findings have shown that labour is helping to deepen the ties between North Korea and Russia. North Korean workers are being sent to Russian factories through a network that serves both states’ at once: 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. What we are seeing is a clear exploitation of these workers as part of a cross-border system. If governments are serious responding to this deepening alliance, they need to understand the role that forced labour is playing in sustaining it.”

“Our findings have shown that labour is helping to deepen the ties between North Korea and Russia. North Korean workers are being sent to Russian factories through a network that serves both states’ at once: 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. What we are seeing is a clear exploitation of these workers as part of a cross-border system. If governments are serious responding to this deepening alliance, they need to understand the role that forced labour is playing in sustaining it.”

Dylan Carter, Lead Investigator at Global Rights Compliance, said:

“In Russia, slave labour is not only commodified, it is available to customers in just a few clicks. Large brigades of North Korean workers, operating under the thin veil of educational exchanges, are openly advertised online and marketed as commodities. ‘They won’t run away’, their recruiters boldly claim, while gruelling shifts are presented as something North Koreans particularly enjoy. These workers do not come cheap, yet little, if any, of the money paid for their labour reaches them. Instead, it lines the pockets of the DPRK state.”

“In Russia, slave labour is not only commodified, it is available to customers in just a few clicks. Large brigades of North Korean workers, operating under the thin veil of educational exchanges, are openly advertised online and marketed as commodities. ‘They won’t run away’, their recruiters boldly claim, while gruelling shifts are presented as something North Koreans particularly enjoy. These workers do not come cheap, yet little, if any, of the money paid for their labour reaches them. Instead, it lines the pockets of the DPRK state.”

Elise Lauriot Prevost, Legal Advisor at Global Rights Compliance, said:

“This investigation exposes a dangerous convergence between two states’ military ambitions: North Korea’s use of overseas forced labour to finance its weapons programme, and Russia’s growing reliance on labour to sustain its war economy. It reveals a disturbing cycle in which the exploitation of workers helps generate revenue for Pyongyang while supporting the industrial infrastructure sustaining Russia’s war against Ukraine. Sanctions enforcement must confront this nexus head-on, or risk allowing forced labour to become another instrument of war.”

“This investigation exposes a dangerous convergence between two states’ military ambitions: North Korea’s use of overseas forced labour to finance its weapons programme, and Russia’s growing reliance on labour to sustain its war economy. It reveals a disturbing cycle in which the exploitation of workers helps generate revenue for Pyongyang while supporting the industrial infrastructure sustaining Russia’s war against Ukraine. Sanctions enforcement must confront this nexus head-on, or risk allowing forced labour to become another instrument of war.”

Yeji Kim, DPRK Advisor at Global Rights Compliance, said:

“Behind every ‘pilot group of students’ is a human being who was never asked where they would be sent, cannot leave, and cannot speak out without putting their family at in danger. This is State-imposed forced labour, and it is feeding Russia’s war machine. Every tin of military rations and every bag of dog food coming off these lines carries that cost. Russian companies, and anyone who does business with them, can no longer claim they did not know.”

“Behind every ‘pilot group of students’ is a human being who was never asked where they would be sent, cannot leave, and cannot speak out without putting their family at in danger. This is State-imposed forced labour, and it is feeding Russia’s war machine. Every tin of military rations and every bag of dog food coming off these lines carries that cost. Russian companies, and anyone who does business with them, can no longer claim they did not know.”

For further information, and interview opportunities, please :

Harriet Shearer / Will Heron / Stella Gumienna

The Communication Group plc

[email protected]

LHS – North Korean workers at a Garment factory in Chekhov, image posted to KNDR.SU

C – North Korean workers at KPP Ruskon, Moscow Oblast, image posted to Vladimir Sokolov’s social media

RHS – DPRK officials on a tour of KPP Ruskon, images posted to KNDR.SU

Issued on behalf of Global Rights Compliance

Global Rights Compliance

Global Rights Compliance, founded in 2013, is an international human rights foundation specialising in international humanitarian law, international criminal law and business and human rights. Global Rights Compliance’s mission is to deliver justice through the innovative application of international law in complex and high-risk environments.

Global Rights Compliance Business and Human Rights Division

Global Rights Compliance has a dedicated business and human rights division which advises governments, industry bodies, businesses, NGOs, and civil society on documenting, investigating and incorporating human rights considerations, particularly in conflict-affected and high-risk areas.

Global Rights Compliance’s DPRK Programme

Global Rights Compliance DPRK team is dedicated to investigating and uncovering the structures of state- forced labour affecting North Korean nationals. The team is involved in enhancing the legal capacity of North Korean civil society organisations, facilitating accountability submissions and supporting United Nations initiatives for addressing human rights violations in the DPRK.

Vladimir Alexandrovich Sokolov is a Moscow-based Russian businessman from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Since GRC has finalised this investigation Sokolov has been sanctioned by the EU. Sokolov claims to have worked since 2020 as an assistant to Anatoly Karpov, Russian chess grandmaster and Member of the State Duma, who is also subject to international sanctions, including from the EU, the US and UK.