Defying Washington, N Koreans continue to earn wages in Poland

Poland

AT an isolated shipyard on Poland's Baltic coast, men in coveralls used welding torches under a cold drizzle, forging an oil tanker for a customer in the Netherlands. The scene was unremarkable, save for the provenance of a dozen of the workers.

"Yes, we are from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," one of them said. "We have been here quite a while." Then he hurried away, alarm seizing his face.

Four other welders confirmed that they were also from North Korea, the pariah state threatening the United States and much of East Asia with nuclear weapons. They, too, then scampered off.

For decades, North Korea has dispatched labourers to points around the globe, engaging tens of thousands in logging, mining and construction ventures while taking a hefty slice of their earnings. The US has sought to shut down this enterprise, lobbying other…