According to a recent report from Reuters, a growing number of garments that are labeled “made in China” are actually secretly being produced in North Korea.
As the cost of Chinese production continues to rise, contractors have been seeking out cheaper labor, and North Korean labor is about as cheap as it get. “Manufacturers can save up to 75 percent by making their clothes [there],” one source is quoted as saying.
Consequently, business is booming. Last year, North Korea’s state-owned textile industry netted $752 million. As one Korean-Chinese businesswoman told Reuters, “We’ve been trying to get some of our clothes made in North Korea but the factories are fully booked at the moment.”
As for the conditions and treatment of the workers at the North Korean factories, all of which are state owned, it’s about as bad as you’d imagine. “In North Korea, factory workers can’t just go to the toilet whenever they feel like, otherwise they think it slows down the whole assembly line,” according to one source. “They aren’t like Chinese factory workers who just work for the money. North Koreans have a different attitude – they believe they are working for their country, for their leader.”
You can read more about it at Reuters.
