In 2014 a welder working on a large shipyard located in Gdynia, Poland, died in an on-the-job accident. His death lead to an investigation which discovered that the victim was actually an immigrant from the hermit state of North Korea. He had been forced by his government to work at the shipyard and his death is what inspired VICE News to go to Poland in order to investigate a murky world of illegal job agencies.

It is estimated that around 50,000 people from North Korea have been forced into similar labour agreements that see them being exploited for the financial gain of their “Dear Leader”. Since North Korea is currently under some very strict UN imposed sanctions that severally limit their international trading abilities they now appear to be looking for alternative means of generating income. All in all this equates to about two billion dollars a year for the top brass in their home country of North Korea.