North Korean workers ‘fed meth to speed up work'

Builders on a construction project in Pyongyang are being supplied drugs by managers, reports have alleged.

Workers on a construction project in North Korea are being fed methamphetamines, also known as crystal meth or 'ice', in a bid to make them work faster, reports have claimed.

Managers are alleged to be providing builders with the drugs in an attempt to speed up the completion of the project, which is said to include a 70-floor skyscraper and over 60 apartment blocks in the country’s capital, Pyongyang.

A construction source in the capital told Radio Free Asia that “project managers are now openly providing drugs to construction workers so that they will work faster,” adding that the workers are “undergoing terrible sufferings”, the Telegraph reports.

Hundreds of thousands of citizens of North Korea, also known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), have been roped into working on the project, the report adds.

Some workers have defaced production signs with graffiti, including messages calling construction workers 'drug troops' and another proclaiming 'Pyongyang speed is drug speed', a Daily Mail report alleges.

The notoriously secretive state is reportedly treating the graffiti as a political crime.
 
Phil Robertson, Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said: “It’s going to be hard to verify that this is happening, but if it is confirmed then we utterly condemned it”, the Telegraph reports.

“The real issue here is slave labour, and our immediate reaction to this was that if they want faster workers why not actually pay them, instead of resorting to giving them drugs?” 

More like this:

$32K pay-out over employee drug test 

Staff trained to work at world’s first weed gym 

P sees popularity jump among employees

 

Recent articles & video

"Our people are at the heart of our success"

Targeted redundancy? Manager calls restructure was a 'sham'

Former office administrator admits to defrauding employer: reports

Employee consultation in a business sale – has the bar been raised?

Most Read Articles

Employer tells worker: 'I think it's best we call it quits'

Women in data: What's preventing women from pursuing a career in tech?

Worker quits after employer bans personal use of company vehicle