In the wake of a United Nations report alleging that two Singaporean companies were supplying luxury goods to North Korea despite implemented sanctions, the city-state has officially revoked all work permits held by North Korean citizens in the country.
Singapore’s latest implementation report to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) also noted that new work permits will no longer be granted to North Koreans.
“Singapore has revoked the work passes of all nationals of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea earning income in Singapore and will not grant new work passes to nationals of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” the report read, according to NK News.
“There are therefore no nationals of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea with work passes in Singapore.”
Though no official numbers are available, the estimated figures of North Koreans working overseas number in the tens of thousands, a portion of which work in Singapore thanks to healthy diplomatic relations between the two countries. The North Korean Embassy in Singapore is located prominently at High Street Centre, but it’s unclear if its personnel are affected by the implementation.
One of the concerns involved in UNSC’s sanctions against North Korea is that citizens who continue to work overseas might generate foreign currency “that the DPRK uses to support its prohibited nuclear and ballistic missile programs,” NK News reported.
Singapore in November last year suspended all trade ties with North Korea. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Monetary Authority of Singapore have yet to provide any updates on their investigations into certain Singapore individuals and entities who supplied goods to North Korea, in violation of sanctions.
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