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II. Background

North Korea’s laws, including its labor laws, are based on the country’s state ideology of “juche,” or self-reliance, socialism, communism and the policies of the Workers’ Party. Guiding principles or instructions by former President Kim Il Sung have legal force that supersedes the constitution or laws. North Korea’s labor laws are composed of the Socialist Labor Law and relevant provisions in the constitution and the penal code, in addition to laws concerning foreign investors and businesses.⁵ The state has full control over the labor market, and the law permits only labor organizations sanctioned and controlled by the state. Under North Korean law there is no concept of an employment contract, as workers are assigned to their jobs by state labor administrative agencies under the control of the Workers’ Party.⁶ The state is responsible for providing basic services such as food,⁷ healthcare, education and housing, and in return for their labor workers are paid a small amount of remuneration in cash or coupons to cover items such as supplementary food, clothes, or furniture.

The KIC Labor Law was drafted by the North Korean government after consulting with Hyundai Asan Corporation and was then adopted by the Standing Committee of the (North Korean) Supreme People’s Assembly.⁸ It has not been publicly disclosed whether the North Korean government consulted with workers in drafting the law. The KIC Management Committee, a North Korean organization with technical staff from South Korea,is in charge of operational support at the KIC, including enforcing the KIC law, monitoring compliance, and punishing violators, under the supervision of North Korea’s Central Special District General Bureau for Kaesong Industrial Complex (the General Bureau).⁹ According to the South Korean Ministry of Unification, North Korea’s labor laws apply to employment conditions in the KIC in the event that the KIC Labor Law is silent on a particular matter.¹⁰

North Korea is a party to four main international human rights treaties: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),¹¹ the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR),¹² the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW),¹³ and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).¹⁴ All provide important workers’ rights protections. As a party to these international human rights treaties, North Korea has a legal obligation to protect these rights. Both the ICCPR and ICESCR establish workers’ right to freedom of association (which includes the right of collective bargaining),¹⁵ and ban discrimination against people based on their race, color, sex, language, religion or social origin.¹⁶ Furthermore, the CEDAW directly bans employment and workplace sex discrimination and violence against women, including sexual harassment.¹⁷ The ICESCR and the CRC prohibit dangerous or hazardous work for children under the age of 18.¹⁸

The ILO conventions form the core of international standards on workers’ rights, but North Korea is not a member of the ILO.

Although Kaesong is North Korean territory, South Korea also has a responsibility as a member of the OECD to ensure that South Korean corporations respect international labor standards as laid out in the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.¹⁹ South Korea is among the 39 countries that have pledged to adhere to the guidelines, which state that enterprises should “respect the human rights of those affected by their activities consistent with the host government’s international obligations and commitments,” “respect the right of their employees to be represented by trade unions and other bona fide representatives of employees,” “contribute to the effective abolition of child labor,” and “not discriminate against their employees with respect to employment or occupation on such grounds as race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin.” The guidelines also state that enterprises should provide facilities and information to employees that may be needed for the negotiation of meaningful and effective collective agreements and enable authorized representatives of their employees to bargain collectively.²⁰ The guidelines establish state responsibilities, asserting that “governments wish to encourage the widest possible observance of the Guidelines,” and that “adhering to the Guidelines will promote them and encourage their use.”²¹