KUCHING: Sarawak is the only state in Malaysia that has North Korean workers, employed in some seven companies, mostly located in the Selantik coal field in Sri Aman Division.
Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem said as far as the ministry is concerned, these
workers are categorised as non-resident workers, governed by the Sarawak Labour Ordinance.
He said Sarawak has the “localization committee” to look into these non-resident matters, headed by the State Secretary, while the State Labour Department Director only sits in the committee as one of the members.
“As far as I know, we leave the non-resident workers matter to this committee, it has nothing to do with the Human Resource Ministry,” he told reporters when met after paying a courtesy call on SChief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg at his office here yesterday.
When asked to comment on Abang Johari’s statement on Tuesday that the state government is in talks with the Home Ministry and the Foreign Ministry on the fate of some 170 North Korean workers in Sarawak, he told reporters to leave it to the relevant Ministries.
“Suffice to say that with the Chief Minister’s statement, let it be as a direction where our Foreign Ministry and the Home Ministry can make their decision. I prefer not to touch on it,” he said.
On Tuesday Abang Johari was reported as saying that the issue was a very delicate one, and any decision would take some time to reach, and the state government would wait for the advice
from the ministries on the matter.
This followed the tense bilateral relationships between Malaysia and North Korea in the aftermath of the murder of a North Korean citizen, widely reported to be Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of the North Korean leader.-Bernama
