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Pyongyang has recently brought back around 300 DPRK workers employed in Oman, a U.S.-based radio report said Thursday amid international concerns over the North's inhuman treatment of its workers overseas.
"As many as 300 DPRK workers were predicted to have stayed for construction work in Oman in 2015, but all of the DPRK workers were repatriated to their home country," Radio Free Asia said, quoting a report from South Korea's state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).
Currently, there are no DPRK workers left in Oman, according to the report on Oman-DPRK trade relations, published by the agency's Muscat branch. Muscat is the capital of the Arab country.
Oman has been cited as one of a few Middle East countries that employ DPRK workers, along with the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Libya.
In March, two DPRK workers en route from Oman to China were caught by customs authorities at the airport in Colombo, Sri Lanka, carrying bulks of dollar bills.
The KOTRA report said the episode may have been part of the process to relocate the DPRK workers.
South Korea's foreign ministry confirmed the repatriation later. "Oman has taken appropriate action, taking into account international concerns over DPRK overseas workers," ministry spokesman Cho Jung-hyuck said at a briefing.
Recent United Nations resolutions expressed concerns over DPRK's inhumane treatment of its overseas workers and the regime's export of workers in connection with its development of nuclear weapons.
(YONHAP)
