“People for Profit,” a 2018 report from the Leiden Asia Centre, reveals that North Korean forced labor is still prevalent in the European Union, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, despite sanctions.

The report demonstrates how companies hire North Koreans through lending structures at shipyards, building sites, in horticulture, and in construction of monuments and statues in Africa. In practice, these workers experience modern slavery: the working conditions are dangerous and consist of extremely long days, they live in cramped conditions, and the majority of their wages are withheld by the North Korean regime.