In 2014, a welder at a large shipyard in Gdynia, Poland, died after an accident on the job. After investigation, the victim was a North Korean immigrant who was sent to work in a shipyard under the guise of forced labor. His death prompted VICE News to produce “Kim’s Cash,” an insightful look at what one interviewee described as “the world’s largest illegal employment agency.”
During the investigation, the filmmakers discovered that North Korean workers were often sent to different parts of Europe to work on large industrial projects. They work in harsh conditions, with few safety precautions, and for very low wages. The welder’s death, for example, was caused by a long list of violations, including the durability of his clothing and a complete lack of supervision.
An estimated 50,000 forced laborers from North Korea are in similar situations. They work in industries ranging from agriculture to construction and are exploited for purely economic reasons. North Korea has limited ability to benefit from international trade; therefore, they have been looking for other ways to generate revenue. Collectively, the blood and sweat of slave labor generates more than $2 billion a year for the power elite in their hometowns.
The filmmakers sought to strike up a dialogue with the workers and the institutions that deployed them in Europe, but they encountered dire subterfuge on both fronts. Labor inspectors and activists have been more accommodating, confirming that a significant portion of Poland’s immigrant workforce comes from North Korea illegally.
Employment agencies and the Polish power structure admit they have done nothing wrong, and they seem to have no regard for the morality of such shady dealings with a brutal dictatorship. Meanwhile, workers continue to toil in dangerous conditions, and another fatal incident like the one in 2014 seems inevitable.
King’s cash has drawn attention to their practices, revealing an underground operation that resembles a form of modern slavery.
