이주노동의 맥락에서 본 북한 해외파견노동자의 문제 = Human Rights of North Korean Workers Overseas from the Perspective of Labour Migration

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Many researches on the working conditions of North Korean workers overseas have looked these workers as the ‘victims’ of the “forced labour”. Those researches reported that North Korean workers in foreign countries suffered from abusive working and living conditions, the intermediary exploitation of wages and constant surveillance by North Korean authorities, restriction of movement and retention of identity documents. These circumstances, for sure, fall into the concept of the forced labour under the standards of the International Labour Organization(ILO).
This article, nevertheless, points out that the perspective of “forced labour” has some limits as follow: Firstly, with the ILO approach to forced labour, it is difficult to draw a line between ‘forced labour’ and various types of ‘unfree labour’ which have been widely used in recent decades of the globalised capitalism.
Secondly, it risks painting workers as victims, rather than as knowledgeable agents. Popular depictions construct North Korean workers as powerless victims, which are needed to be rescued. Such ‘rescue discourses’ serve as justification for foreign policy interventions that ultimately harm rather than help human rights of North Korean workers.
Alternatively, this article argues that issues on North Korean workers overseas could be best understood under the perspective of labour migration in the globalised economy. Furthermore, to respect rights of North Korean workers overseas, this article suggests the following approach. Above all, it is critical to recognize North Korean workers as the ‘subject of rights’. It is needed to recognize that North Korean people have the right to not have to migrate in the first place, that is the right to pursue developments in their own country. Moreover, they have the right to not to be victims due to the international sanctions against the North Korean regime. The North Korean Government should take the principal responsibility for respecting human rights of North Korean people. Regarding the North Korean workers overseas, in particular, it should provide workers with the full information of working conditions overseas beforehand, secure wages and protect them from the abusive working and living conditions.
The receiving countries could and should have an important role in protecting the North Korean workers in their territories. In particular, it is the policy of temporary labour migration to rapidly change for respecting human rights of migrant workers. Additionally, the receiving countries’ authorities should effectively carry on the labour inspection over working conditions, and regulate and redress overdue wages of North Korean workers in their territories.
The South Korean Government also should take its own responsibility for protecting human rights of North Korean people. In the first place, South Korean enterprises also take advantage of the North Korean workers in the border areas such as Dandong. Furthermore, the South Korea should pursue peace building policies and human rights empowerments in the Korean Peninsula.

국문 초록 (Abstract)

최근 북한 해외파견노동자에 대한 인권 침해와 열악한 노동 및 거주 실태가 주목을 받으면서, 기존의 연구들은 이 문제를 주로 ‘강제 노동’(Forced labour)의 문제로 바라보고 있다. 북한 해외노동자가 벌어들이는 보수가 북한의 체제 유지를 위해 사용된다는 의심으로 인해, 대북 제재의 대상이 되기도 한다.
이 글은 북한 해외노동자의 문제를 ‘강제노동’의 접근틀로 바라보는 기존의 국제인권레짐의 인식과 정책 처방이 가지는 의미와 한계를 분석한다. 북한 해외파견노동자를 강제노동의 피해자로만 위치 짓는 태도는, 북한 노동자들이 해외파견을 선호하는 동인, 해외 파견지에서의 수용과 저항의 동학, 노동조건 개선을 위한 북한 노동자들의 주체적 욕구를 구체적으로 살피지 못하게 만들 수 있다. 더욱이 이러한 접근법은 북한 정권에 대한 국제사회의 제재 전략과 맞물리면서, 북한 해외파견노동자의 노동권 실현을 더욱 어렵게 만들 수 있다. 대안적으로 북한 해외파견노동자의 문제를 지구화된 경제 체제에서의 이주노동의 일환으로 바라보는 접근법은, 이들의 노동권 실현을 위해 송출국, 유입국 모두의 책임으로 정책을 구체화시키는 데 유용하다.

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