The Los Angeles Times says North Korea is securing dollars by exploiting its nationals working abroad.

The U.S. daily on Tuesday said Pyongyang keeps most of the earnings of 75 North Korean female workers at a uniform factory west of Prague.

Their entire monthly salary of some 260 dollars each is deposited directly into an account controlled by Pyongyang, which leaves only 20 to 30 dollars for the workers.

The report said the earnings are apparently one of the few legal sources of hard currency for the isolated North, which has also resorted to counterfeiting, drug trafficking and weapon sales.

Experts said an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 North Koreans are working abroad on behalf of their government in fields ranging from nursing to construction.

Defectors say North Korea has sent workers to Russia, Libya, Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia and Angola.