VZCZCXRO7886
PP RUEHVK
DE RUEHUM #0452 1650326
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 140326Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY ULAANBAATAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9992
INFO RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 2288
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5050
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 1511
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 0045
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 0215 UNCLAS ULAANBAATAR 000452 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS:        
SUBJECT: DPRK Contract Laborers Decline Sharply 
 
Refs:  (A) State 085534, (B) Ulaanbaatar 173 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET 
DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 1.  (SBU) On June 9, MFA Consular Department Director 
Ochirjav told visiting Treasury Deputy Assistant 
Secretary Danny Glaser that in recent months there had 
 
SIPDIS 
been a decline in the number of North Korean contract 
workers, from 200 persons to 50 persons.  (Note:  In 
delivering the TIP report demarche to Ochirjav's deputy 
on June 5, Poloff noted that U.S. assessment of 
Mongolia's good efforts on other aspects of trafficking 
in persons could be jeopardized by the government's 
permission to import contract laborers from the DPRK. 
On June 6, Poloff called to MFA's attention G/TIP 
Director Miller's expression of concern about the DPRK 
laborers during a press interview the previous day.) 
 
 2.  (SBU) Anecdotal evidence that a decline in the 
number of DPRK workers might occur was provided at the 
end of March.  A politician/businessman who is a 
leading member of the "Northeast Asia Association" 
(which promotes closer links between Mongolia and North 
Korea) told visiting House International Relations 
Committee staff member Douglas Anderson that he had 
recently sent home the 50 DPRK workers who had worked 
for him.  The businessman said that Mongolian 
immigration authorities had declined to extend their 
visas.  Most of the North Koreans, he said, had told 
him they wanted to continue working for him, but he had 
replied there was nothing he could do.  Asked whether 
he intended to replace them with new DPRK workers, the 
businessman replied in the negative.  The economics had 
changed, he said, and while he had been interested in 
extending the old workers, obtaining new DPRK workers 
was too expensive relative to other options. 
 
 3. (SBU) However, on June 1, our Commercial Specialist 
heard from the President of Boroo Gold (an American 
national), a Canadian owned firm, that a representative 
of the North Korean diplomatic mission had approached 
him directly about hiring DPRK laborers to replace his 
Mongolian staff. The President described the North 
Korean as extremely professional in both manner and 
appearance.  He further stated that the DPRK 
representative offered to supply laborers for unskilled 
and skilled categories currently filled by Mongolians, 
all for the low price of US $1.50 per day per worker. 
The DPRK representative noted that other firms were 
interested in his workers, but only gave the name of 
Mongol Gazar, a Mongolian-owned gold mining firm, as 
hiring North Koreans to operate heavy equipment. The 
President declined to hire any DPRK workers. 
 
SLUTZ