NHK has reported about 29-thousand North Koreans are working in Russia.

Citing a Russian government report, the Japanese public broadcaster said the number of North Korean workers in Russia at the end of last year was up some 50 percent from 2011.

NHK explained many of them are in the far east of the country where Russian President Valdimir Putin's government is putting priority on infrastructure and other development projects.

The report added that North Korea is also putting more weight on ties with Russia as its relations with China have soured. Beijing has also suspended coal imports from the North to comply with UN sanctions.

NHK quoted an expert as saying that North Korean workers are welcomed in Russia as their wages are lower than those of laborers from other countries.

The U.S. State Department said in a report last month that about 50-thousand to 80-thousand North Koreans are working abroad, with North Korean authorities taking 70 to 90 percent of their income. 

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