North Korean official may have been killed by protesters in China

North Korean workers gather after lunch at the Hong Chao Zhi Yi garment factory in Hunchun, Jilin province, China, in this Sept. 30, 2017 photo. An official at South Korea's National intelligence agency told The Korea Times, Monday, that "accidents" involving North Korean workers overseas occurred recently due to poor working conditions. This confirmation comes after a scholar claimed at least one North Korean official was killed as a result of protests that erupted in China. AP-Yonhap

At least one North Korean government official was killed and three others were seriously injured in China after a series of protests by North Korean workers there earlier this month, an expert at a state-funded think tank claimed on Monday, citing multiple sources.

Asked by The Korea Times about the incident, an official at the National Intelligence Service confirmed that "accidents" involving North Korean workers overseas occurred recently due to poor working conditions. The official declined to elaborate and said only that the agency is now "gathering facts" about the accidents.

According to Cho Han-bum, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute of National Unification, a North Korean official who had been sent to Helong in China’s northeastern province of Jilin to oversee workers at garment factories there died after violent protests erupted between Jan. 11 and 15. They were reportedly infuriated by the fact that their salaries paid for years had been sent to the ruling Workers’ Party in Pyongyang without their consent or knowledge, he said.

This claim comes after Ko Young-hwan, a former North Korean diplomat, said he was told by his sources in the region that thousands of North Koreans working at clothing factories and fisheries processing plants held protests demanding the payment of overdue wages.

According to Cho and Ko, the workers agreed to end their protest after the party assured them that they would receive their back wages.

If true, it was the first known display of organized defiance against the regime, which would have profound ramifications for the country and beyond.

“The crisis for the regime isn’t over yet, because it cannot pay them the money it promised,” Cho said. “This would continue to remain a political time bomb and may well trigger other workers in China and other countries to take the same action.”

The exact number of North Koreans working overseas is unknown. But the U.S. government estimated in 2019 that about 100,000 North Koreans are working at construction sites, factories, logging camps and other places worldwide. Experts believe most of them are working in China, the North's main patron.

Most North Korean workers sent overseas are from privileged families in Pyongyang. This presents an unprecedented political challenge to Kim Jong-un, the North's 40-year-old ruler, Cho said.

“If the party brings them all back to North Korea, there would be political agitation given the large number of the North Korean elite people involved. If the party doesn’t take any action, they could act together to escape. It’s a tense time now," Cho said.

In another stunning revelation, South and North Development, a research institute that works with defectors from North Korea, recently released a video showing a North Korean school teacher apparently being punished for attempting to create a political party for democracy between 2021 and 2023.

When asked about the video, an official at the Ministry of Unification told reporters that it could be a sign of growing frustration among North Koreans against the totalitarian regime.