North Korean workers take a rest at a railroad construction site in Vladivostok, Russia. / Korea Times file

By Yi Whan-woo

More North Korean workers in Vladivostok, Russia face the risk of being deported, as Russia observes the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) sanctions aimed at cutting off the flow of foreign currency to the North.

The sanctions ban any country from authorizing new visas for North Koreans working overseas, and prevent the Kim Jong-un regime from pocketing their wages to develop nuclear weapons.

It also calls for the repatriation of workers by the end of 2019.

Under such circumstances, the number of North Korean workers has declined sharply, according to sources familiar with the matter.

"We used to have a large number of North Korean workers but you don't see many these days," a source told Radio Free Asia (RFA) in December.

Citing his Russian friend at a construction site, the second source said it takes longer to finish construction projects nowadays because North Korean laborers, many of them hired as construction workers, have been leaving.

"There is an international passenger terminal, and ships have come to pick up North Korean workers a number of times," the source said.

The Russian government has even launched crackdowns on North Koreans, some of them working in the country illegally on travel visas.

"If they get caught they will be deported," a third source said.

A North Korean worker, identified only by his surnname Park, said he came to Russia on a travel visa and had to bribe Russian authorities with over 100,000 rubles ($1,500) to overlook him.

According to Park, he is forced to turn in part of his wages to the regime as North Koreans staying on working visas do.

"I have to offer part of the money I earn to my country. I have to pay 15,000 every Saturday," he said, adding he works about 18 hours a day.

"I'm usually there from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. or midnight. Sometimes I'll work until 3 a.m. the next morning," he said.