2024 Helong North Korean migrant workers unrest

According to South Korean sources, between 11 and 14 January 2024, several thousand North Korean migrant workers in the Chinese city of Helong went on strike over unpaid wages. The civil unrest ended after North Korean authorities agreed to distribute several months' worth of pay to the workers. While many of the sources that reported on the event cited a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) and a North Korean defector who claimed to have informants in the region, Chinese authorities have denied that the incidents occurred and several news sources, including Newsweek and Reuters, have stated that they have been unable to independently verify the stories.

In China, several thousand migrant workers from North Korea are employed in factories and food processing plants. This work program is in violation of United Nations sanctions, and workers in the program are often subject to abuse, including the withholding of payment. These issues were further exacerbated by the COVID-19 lockdowns, during which time many North Korean workers in China were barred from reentering North Korea. Additionally, workers during the time reported that they had not received some of their payments, with the North Korean government withholding the money.

South Korean sources claim that, on 11 January, workers at a plant in Helong initiated a factory occupation, took several managers and plant officials hostage, and vowed to not resume work until they had been paid. On 14 January, one of the hostages was killed. That day, North Korean officials brought an end to the dispute by distributing payments to the involved workers. In total, the protests and work stoppages had affected over ten plants in the city and had involved between 2,000 and 3,000 workers. These events were reported on by Cho Han-bum, a senior analyst at KINU, and Ko Young-hwan, a North Korean defector. Following the unrest, North Korean officials repatriated about 100 workers and imprisoned them.

Multiple sources highlighted the rarity of such incidents of civil unrest among North Korean citizens, with several academics opining that the events in Helong could spur further unrest in other locations. In mid-February 2024, there were reports of a similar work stoppage in the Chinese border city of Dandong, with North Korean workers demanding to return home.