North Korea
North Korea has the structural profile of a relatively industrialized country where nearly half of the Gross Domestic Product is generated by industry and human development is at medium levels. Purchasing power parity (PPP) GDP is estimated at $40 billion, with a very low per capita value of $1,800. In 2012, Gross national income per capita was $1,523, compared to $28,430 in South Korea. The North Korean won is the national currency, issued by the Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
North Koreans in Russia
However, the most recent influx of North Korean workers, which began under the government of Vladimir Putin, is composed of volunteers seeking to escape unemployment and poverty at home. Most are from Pyongyang; recruitment companies prefer workers from urban areas, as they are believed to adapt better to life in other countries. By 2006, more than 10,000 North Koreans entered Russia on work visas annually, largely headed for the Russian Far East. They are closely monitored by North Korean security forces to prevent defections; many report being paid in scrip rather than legal currency. In 2009 the North Korean government was estimated to earn roughly US$7 million each year in foreign exchange through their workers in Russia. In 2010 reports came out from Nakhodka indicating that North Korean workers and traders there had been evacuated back to their home country due to rising military tensions with South Korea. In 2011 Kim Jong-il made a visit to Russia in which he reportedly negotiated for even more North Korean workers to be sent to Russia. Up to 70% of the $40 to $100 per month wages earned by the workers are reported to be taken away as "loyalty payments".