| Serfs, indentured servants or slaves? Or does it matter much what we call them? |
China has decided to allow 20,000 North Koreans to work in the Dandong area of Liaoning Province along the Apnok River separating it from North Korea. Earlier, China permitted another 20,000 North Koreans to work in the border cities of Tumen and Huchun in Jilin Province along the Duman River.
The 40,000 include many factory workers who lost their jobs when South Korea halted trade with North Korea in 2010 after the North's sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan.
A source in Dandong said the Liaoning government and North Korea's Committee of Investment and Joint Venture signed an agreement in April authorizing the dispatch of of 20,000 North Koreans to Dandong.
Under the agreement China will issue industrial training visas to 20,000 North Korean workers a year and pay them 1,300-1,700 yuan (W240,000-310,000) a month depending on the line of work.
| Of which Pudgy will take 80%... |
They will work in factories that manufacture clothes, food and IT products, or in mines. |