Soft currency spawns Sisyphean curse

The thousands of North Korean workers dispatched to Russia to earn foreign cash for the Kim Jong Un regime had it tough even before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. They are paid in rubles for their labor at garment factories, restaurants and construction sites, but Pyongyang takes more than half of their earnings–and only accepts dollars. The collapse of the ruble since Vladimir Putin launched his war on Ukraine has made the migrant workers' take-home pay close to worthless.