Latest news with #Resolution2375
The Star
2 days ago
- Business
- The Star
North Korea eyeing Russian tourists for new beach resort: Seoul
North Korean leader Kim Jong-y-un (left) and his daughter Kim Ju-ae (front right) visiting the Wonsan Kalma coastal tourist area in Kangwon Province, North Korea.- AFP SEOUL: North Korea is expected to court Russian tourists following the completion of its Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist zone, which is set to open first to domestic travellers in July, South Korea's Unification Ministry said on Thursday (June 26). It noted that construction – which was suspended for an extended period – resumed in 2024, possibly with support from Russia and expectation of attracting Russian tourists. North Korean state media reported on June 26 on the completion ceremony of the Wonsan-Kalma beach resort. It was held on June 25 and attended by leader Kim Jong Un and family members. The resort is set to open to domestic visitors on July 1, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. It reported that the tourist zone is 'equipped with hotels and inns capable of accommodating around 20,000 people, allowing domestic and international visitors to choose accommodations that suit their preferences' in a Korean-language report. The Russian ambassador to North Korea and embassy members were invited as special guests, according to the state media report. A Unification Ministry official said on condition of anonymity during a closed-door briefing: 'Operations are expected to gradually expand to include Russian tourists, beginning with domestic tourism on July 1. 'The fact that the Russian ambassador was invited and highlighted (in the state media report) also appears to have been intended with Russian tourists in mind.' The official added: 'North Korea has regarded tourism as very important while recognising it as a key means of earning foreign currency. 'Tourism itself is not a violation of sanctions. However, tourism operations that involve bulk cash transfers or are conducted in the form of cooperative projects or joint ventures with North Korea could constitute a violation of sanctions.' 'On the other hand, individual tourists paying their own expenses on a cost-reimbursement basis would not be considered a sanctions violation,' the official said. UN Security Council Resolution 2270 prohibits the transfer of bulk cash to North Korea, and Resolution 2375 bans all UN member states from creating any new joint ventures with North Korean entities or individuals. North Korea's decision to resume years-long construction of the Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist zone in 2024 could be related to a closer alignment with Russia during the country's grinding war against Ukraine. 'Since North Korea's involvement in the Ukraine war, it is believed that the country has received various forms of material support from Russia – support that may have contributed economically to the completion of the Wonsan-Kalma tourist zone,' the official said. 'Additionally, there is a possibility that North Korea will actively seek to attract Russian tourists, which could explain the renewed push to promote the project.' North Korea initially designated the area along the coast connecting Wonsan and Mount Kumgang as a tourist zone in 2014. KCNA previously reported that a groundbreaking ceremony for the Wonsan region took place in May 2015. North Korea originally set a goal of completing the tourist zone by April 15, 2019 to mark the birth anniversary of the country's late founder Kim Il Sung. However, the project was repeatedly delayed due to difficulties in securing construction materials under international sanctions. Construction was halted following the outbreak of Covid-19 and remained suspended until 2024. The official, however, underscored that Seoul needs to watch how much tourism in the Wonsan-Kalma coastal zone can actually be realised 'due to various limitations in transportation infrastructure'. Based on the number of flights and the size of aircraft operating between Pyongyang and Vladivostok, the maximum number of people who could travel via Pyongyang to the Wonsan-Kalma coastal zone in a single day would be around 170. The official also explained that there has been no progress in resuming Chinese group tours, which were suspended after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in January 2020. - The Korea Herald/ANN
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
North Korea used student visas to send thousands of workers to Russia, Seoul says
North Korea likely used student visas to send a large number of workers as well as troops to Russia in 2024, South Korea's intelligence agency has said. The sanctioned east Asian country sent at least 'thousands of workers to construction sites in various parts of Russia' over the past year, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) said on Sunday, confirming a major influx of North Korean nationals being sent to Russia. In a briefing, the NIS official said around 4,000 North Korean workers – each being paid a monthly stipend of approximately $800 (£645) – were already believed to be in Russia, The Korean Herald reported. Both Moscow and Pyongyang have been accused of violating a UN Security Council Resolution, by using student visas and other gaps, which bans employment to North Korean labourers. Under the UN Security Council Resolution 2375, the UN member nations are banned from issuing work permits to the labour force of North Korea. The resolution mandated all existing North Korean workers to return home by the end of December 2019. South Korean lawmaker and former Seoul's ambassador to Russia, Wi Sung Lac, said Russia may be recruiting North Korean workers to fill gaps in the construction industry created by its prolonged aggression against Ukraine. 'I think North Korean workers may have been recruited to make up for the labour shortages after many were drafted for the war,' the Democratic Party of Korea representative said. The latest round of North Korean workers dispatched to Russia was lesser than what was the scenario before the UN slapped sanctions on the hermit kingdom, he said. 'But now that there are sanctions, they are not supposed to be sending workers at all,' Mr Wi said. Pyongyang sent roughly 11,000 soldiers to help with Vladimir Putin's war effort in November last year, four months after Kyiv's troops seized Russian territory in Kursk. Last week, Ukrainian and Western officials said North Korean troops have been pulled back from the frontline amid devastating losses but Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday said they were back again on the frontline. Kim Jong Un's forces were not seen on the battlefield for around three weeks, Ukrainian special forces said. The reports have been backed by South Korea's spy agency, which said the North Korean troops had been withdrawn from the war frontline around the middle of January, the National Intelligence Service said earlier last week. But on Friday, Mr Zelensky said the Russian Army had "brought back in North Korean soldiers" who were carrying out "new assaults" in the region partially occupied by Ukraine.
The Independent
10-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
North Korea used student visas to send thousands of workers to Russia, Seoul says
North Korea likely used student visas to send a large number of workers as well as troops to Russia in 2024, South Korea 's intelligence agency has said. The sanctioned east Asian country sent at least 'thousands of workers to construction sites in various parts of Russia' over the past year, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) said on Sunday, confirming a major influx of North Korean nationals being sent to Russia. In a briefing, the NIS official said around 4,000 North Korean workers – each being paid a monthly stipend of approximately $800 (£645) – were already believed to be in Russia, The Korean Herald reported. Both Moscow and Pyongyang have been accused of violating a UN Security Council Resolution, by using student visas and other gaps, which bans employment to North Korean labourers. Under the UN Security Council Resolution 2375, the UN member nations are banned from issuing work permits to the labour force of North Korea. The resolution mandated all existing North Korean workers to return home by the end of December 2019. South Korean lawmaker and former Seoul's ambassador to Russia, Wi Sung Lac, said Russia may be recruiting North Korean workers to fill gaps in the construction industry created by its prolonged aggression against Ukraine. 'I think North Korean workers may have been recruited to make up for the labour shortages after many were drafted for the war,' the Democratic Party of Korea representative said. The latest round of North Korean workers dispatched to Russia was lesser than what was the scenario before the UN slapped sanctions on the hermit kingdom, he said. 'But now that there are sanctions, they are not supposed to be sending workers at all,' Mr Wi said. Pyongyang sent roughly 11,000 soldiers to help with Vladimir Putin 's war effort in November last year, four months after Kyiv 's troops seized Russian territory in Kursk. Last week, Ukrainian and Western officials said North Korean troops have been pulled back from the frontline amid devastating losses but Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday said they were back again on the frontline. Kim Jong Un 's forces were not seen on the battlefield for around three weeks, Ukrainian special forces said. The reports have been backed by South Korea's spy agency, which said the North Korean troops had been withdrawn from the war frontline around the middle of January, the National Intelligence Service said earlier last week. But on Friday, Mr Zelensky said the Russian Army had "brought back in North Korean soldiers" who were carrying out "new assaults" in the region partially occupied by Ukraine.
Korea Herald
09-02-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Thousands of North Korean workers sent to Russian construction sites: NIS
North Korea sent a large number of workers to Russia last year on top of troops, according to the National Intelligence Service in Seoul. The NIS said Sunday that North Korea has sent "thousands of workers to construction sites in various parts of Russia" over the past year -- a number that has grown since the estimate given last October. In October last year, the NIS had said in a briefing that about 4,000 North Korean workers were already believed to be in Russia, with each worker being paid a monthly stipend of approximately $800. Russia may be recruiting North Korean workers to fill the labor shortages in the construction industry due to its prolonged aggression against Ukraine, according to Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Wi Sung-lac, who was Seoul's ambassador to Russia. "I think North Korean workers may have been recruited to make up for the labor shortages after many were drafted for the war," Wi told The Korea Herald on Sunday. On North Korea providing thousands of workers to Russia in the space of a year, Wi said that before sanctions, it used to be tens of thousands. "But now that we have sanctions, they are not supposed to be sending workers at all," he said. North Korea's deployment of overseas workers violates UN Security Council Resolution 2375, which bans the issuance of work permits to North Korean laborers. Additionally, all existing North Korean workers were mandated to return home by the end of December 2019. However, North Korea and Russia are suspected of bypassing these restrictions by exploiting student visas and other loopholes to send workers abroad. The NIS has yet to confirm announcement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his address Friday that North Korean soldiers have been brought back to the front line in Russia's Kursk region near the border with Ukraine. The NIS said in January that North Korean troops appeared to have been withdrawn from operations in Kursk, likely due to losses. The NIS believes as of mid-January, at least 300 North Korean soldiers operating in Russia's war have been killed, and some 2,700 have been wounded. According to the NIS, North Korea sent about 11,000 soldiers to Russia to fight Ukraine since October last year. North Korean soldiers are being paid around $2,000 a month each, the NIS said.
