Workers discuss a project at a rock-drilling tools factory in Pyongyang in this photo taken in April. More North Koreans, especially Pyongyang's upper class, are seeking work abroad despite sanctions on the North. / Korea Times file

By Yi Whan-woo

More North Koreans, including Pyongyang's upper class, are seeking jobs outside the country amid prolonged international sanctions on the North, according to sources.

The move is expected to stir controversy because the sanctions prohibit the export of North Korean labor.

Against this backdrop, North Koreans are even willing to take menial jobs in China and Russia that are not detectable by the United Nations and the West.

"The people are looking to enhance their careers by becoming cooks, waiters, tailors or construction workers abroad," a source told Radio Free Asia (RFA) recently. "They think they will be able to make more money overseas."

The screening process is strict because authorities only send those who are loyal to the regime.

"People who want to go abroad for work have to go through a very strict selection process, so the authorities mainly choose residents of Pyongyang, because their backgrounds have already been verified," the source said.

It said many living in Pyongyang are loyal to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Among them are members of the ruling Workers' Party, the country's main youth league and housewives.

The source said younger generations are especially interested in finding jobs abroad.

"Factories under the jurisdiction of the External Construction Bureau are the most popular, because factory workers are a big priority abroad," it said, adding the hopeful workers are even willing to pay bribes.

The preferred jobs are cooks, waiters and tailors because they get paid $150 a month, which is much more than other overseas jobs.

"Even though the Kim regime takes its cut, they will still be making more money than ordinary people, so everyone wants to do it," the source said.

Another source said the people are interested in working abroad because learning a foreign language is becoming a trend.

"The Pyongyang citizens are taking classes at Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies and the library or even taking private lesions," the source said.

In December 2017, the U.N. Security Council approved sanctions aimed at depriving the Kim Jong-un regime of $500 million a year from the wages of an estimated 93,000 North Koreans working overseas.

The measures are to prevent the flow of foreign cash into the North for its nuclear program. The sanctions also call for a freeze on new work permits and require host countries to send North Korean workers back by the end of 2019.

More North Koreans are still seeking jobs abroad as relations with China are warming, a third source said.

"There are more and more brokers appearing to help place people, in exchange for a fee, so the authorities are trying to find ways to regulate illegal activities like this," the source said.

"However, the whole operation is dependent on bribes pocketed by officials, so there's no way that we can expect the government to do anything about it."