Around 400 North Koreans are still working in Poland but the EU member has not issued any new work permits since August last year in compliance with a UN resolution, the Polish labour minister said Wednesday.
New UN sanctions passed against North Korea last month ban the supply of nearly 75 percent of refined oil products to Pyongyang, cap crude deliveries and order all North Koreans working abroad to be sent back by the end of 2019.
"Since August 5, 2017, Poland has issued no work permits for North Korean citizens," Polish Labour Minister Elzbieta Rafalska told reporters in Warsaw.
During this period, "regional governors also withdrew 74 work permits, while a maximum 462 North Korean citizens were" in Poland, she said.
North Koreans are employed mainly in Polish shipyards.
Deputy labour minister Stanislaw Szwed said that administrative measures were being used to withdraw existing permits.
"We are acting in accordance with the UN resolution and in agreement with the countries that support employment restrictions on North Korean workers," said Szwed.
Tens of thousands of North Koreans work abroad in deplorable conditions, mainly in Russia and China, to generate valuable foreign currency revenue for Pyongyang.
South Korea proposes high-level talks with North
South Korea Tuesday proposed high-level talks with Pyongyang on January 9, after the North's leader Kim Jong-Un called for better relations and said his country might attend the Winter Olympics in the South.
Kim used his annual New Year address to warn he has a "nuclear button" on his table, but sweetened his remarks by expressing an interest in dialogue and taking part in the Pyeongchang Ga … read more
