Prague, Sept 14 (CTK) – No North Koreans work in the Czech Republic and the bilateral trade is negligible, according to information from Czech authorities, and therefore the new sanctions the U.N. Security Council imposed on Pyongyang this week will have no impact on Czechs.
In the past, several hundred North Korean workers stayed in the Czech Republic, including seamstresses in cloth making companies.
Their employment came under criticism, because they had to send most of their pay to North Korean authorities.
That is why the Czech Republic stopped extending their residence permits and most of them had to leave the country in 2007.
“At present, no North Korean holders of an employee card, which means a residence permit for the purpose of employment, are registered in the Czech Republic,” the Interior Ministry has told CTK.
The volume of the trade between the Czech Republic and North Korea has been very low.
According to the Czech Statistical Office’s (CSU) data, Czech exports to North Korea were worth 893,000 crowns in the first seven months of 2017, with tankers, pumps, air-conditioning and alcohol being the most exported items.
In the preceding year, the exports were seven times smaller.
The imports from North Korea reached 17 million crowns and mainly involved magnesite.
In 2016, the imports were almost nil.
The U.N. Security Council has approved new economic sanctions against North Korea in reaction to its sixth and so far strongest nuclear test the country made on September 3.
