The Washington Post: 400 North Korean workers remain in occupied Abkhazia

Around 400 North Koreans, who are mostly men with wives and families back home to support, live in Abkhazia, with many in the main city, Sukhumi, reports the US publication The Washington Post.

Back in 2017, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution (2397) in response to North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on 28 November of that year. The resolution, among other things, prohibited North Korean citizens to work abroad and called for the return of all nationals earning income abroad, with some humanitarian exceptions, within 24 months, which will be up on December 22, 2019.

Despite hesitation, the resolution was signed two years ago by Russia and China, some of the North Korean workers' main hosts.

However, in the occupied Abkhazia, which remains outside of the UN, with most of its members considering it a part of Georgia, Russia gets the chance to place some of the North Korean workers instead of sending them home. “For Russia, there is a strategic play at hand,” writes the TWP.

The article points out that as some analysts say, that with the small workforce dispatched in Abkhazia, the Kremlin hopes win some more goodwill with Kim Jong Un’s regime as Moscow continues to increase its presence in Asia.

“For Russia, they are footholds to bypass international norms and sanctions, and even provide an off-the-grid financial system,” reads the article about the separatist enclaves stretching across the former Soviet territories.

Down from 40,000, about 10,000 North Korean workers remain in Russia and Moscow has promised to send them home by a Dec. 22 deadline set by the UN, according to the article.

“The 400 North Korean workers in Abkhazia are just a blip among what was once about 100,000 worldwide, sending home $500 million each year in remittance, according to U.S. estimates. But it is Moscow’s way of keeping a lifeline open for Pyongyang, analysts say,” states the article.

The Washington Post reports that the North Korean workers in Abkhazia take approximately USD 7 for a massage session at the “Land of the Soul” high-rise resort in Sukhumi.

The article quotes Alex Melikishvili, a principal research analyst at IHS Markit, who says that for Russia it makes ‘perfect sense’ to facilitate North Korea-Abkhazia economic ties.

“It makes perfect sense for the Russian government to try [to] facilitate economic ties between North Korea and Abkhazia. One is a rogue state, and the other is entirely dependent on handouts from Moscow,” said Melikishvili.

It is noteworthy that the TWP journalist found out that the so-called representatives of the de-facto state of Abkhazia visited Pyongyang last year.

Tamila Mertskhulava, the so-called head of Abkhazia’s chamber of commerce and industry told the reporter: “They approached us with an offer of manual labor, this is what they can export.”

The armed conflict in Abkhazia broke out 27 years ago, which resulted in the deaths of between ten and thirty thousand soldiers and civilians. 300 thousand people became refugees or internally displaced.

Following the five-day Georgia-Russia war of 2008, on 26 August 2008, Russia completed the annexation of Abkhazia, officially acknowledging the 'independence' of the Abkhazian state. Despite the efforts of imperialist Russian forces, as acknowledged by the international community, the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia remains a legitimate integral part of Georgia.