Interesting story from the Korea Times today about potentially serious labor unrest among North Koreans working in China:
North Korean official killed by protesters in China
At least one North Korean government official was killed and three others were seriously injured in China after a series of protests by North Korean workers there earlier this month, an expert at a state-funded think tank claimed on Monday, citing multiple sources.
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According to Cho Han-bum, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute of National Unification, a North Korean official who had been sent to Helong in China’s northeastern province of Jilin to oversee workers at garment factories there died after violent protests erupted between Jan. 11 and 15. They were reportedly infuriated by the fact that their salaries paid for years had been sent to the ruling Workers’ Party in Pyongyang without their consent or knowledge, he said.
This claim comes after Ko Young-hwan, a former North Korean diplomat, said he was told by his sources in the region that thousands of North Koreans working at clothing factories and fisheries processing plants held protests demanding the payment of overdue wages.
According to Cho and Ko, the workers agreed to end their protest after the party assured them that they would receive their back wages.
If true, it was the first known display of organized defiance against the regime, which would have profound ramifications for the country and beyond.
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Most North Korean workers sent overseas are from privileged families in Pyongyang. This presents an unprecedented political challenge to Kim Jong-un, the North's 40-year-old ruler, Cho said.
Meanwhile, a landmark decision by a Hong Kong court mandating the liquidation of Chinese property developer Evergrande is roiling Chinese markets today:
China Evergrande shares crashed on the news, losing more than one-fifth of their value on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange before trading was suspended at the direction of the exchange less than an hour after the open.
Liquidators will now be appointed to sell off Evergrande's assets to pay its creditors, but the reach of the ruling of a Hong Kong court remains to be seen with Evergrande Executive Director Shawn Siu vowing the company would continue to operate in mainland China.
The ruling came the same day as a memorandum of understanding between Hong Kong and Beijing took effect agreeing to enforce rulings in civil cases by each other's judicial authorities. However, Hong Kong sought to frame the agreement as protection against mainland judgments being automatically imposed on Hong Kong entities.
With China's property market in crisis, the government may exercise the same prerogative when it comes to such a key player in a sector that accounts for around a quarter of GDP.
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Evergrande accumulated its debt mountain over a 15-year drive to become one of China's biggest businesses.
Much of the money is owed to prospective homebuyers with down payments on apartments and houses that are half-built, or on which work has yet to start, as well as suppliers and subcontractors.
Interesting times indeed!