Rare unrest among North Korean workers in China a sign of regime’s weakening grip?

FILE PHOTO: The North Korean flag flutters at the North Korea consular office in Dandong, Liaoning province, China April 20, 2021. Picture taken April 20, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo

The North Korean workers were said to have been enraged over unpaid wages, poor working and living conditions, and even abuse by the employers.

PHOTO: REUTERS

Wendy Teo

Follow topic:

SEOUL – Discontent among North Korean workers dispatched by the government to work in China

has boiled over

, putting the totalitarian state’s history of human rights abuses in the spotlight once again and prompting observers to consider the potential consequences for Pyongyang.

A violent riot by 2,000 North Korean factory workers reportedly broke out on Jan 11 in China’s north-eastern Jilin province. It lasted four days and saw at least one North Korean official killed and three other officials seriously injured.

Rare unrest among North Korean workers in China a sign of regime’s weakening grip?

Follow topic:

See more on