Russian authorities have been forced to deny disturbing rumours that North Korean labourers working in the country have been eating pet dogs after bizarre footage emerged showing workers stroking a canine beside a large cooking pot.

The footage, filmed at a construction site in the far eastern city of Vladivostok, was released by a local official in an effort to squash growing panic online.

In the clip, North Korean workers can be seen affectionately petting a dog reportedly meant to guard the site, while a pot of red liquid bubbles away nearby. 

Pointing to the metal pot, the official assures viewers: ‘There’s no blood in it, it’s just spicy kimchi. This is not a cafe or anything – it’s a work camp.’

The unusual video comes amid a swirl of speculation on social media, where locals have voiced alarm over a string of missing pets – prompting at least one worried resident to storm the work camp and confront the labourers over what they were really doing with the animals.

Dog meat, known in North Korea as dangogi or ‘sweet meat’, is considered a delicacy in Kim Jong Un’s reclusive regime – particularly in the summer, when it is believed to boost stamina and male virility.

Though the men in the video are only referred to as ‘Koreans’, they speak with unmistakably North Korean accents, and the country has long sent cheap labourers to Russia, despite international bans.

In 2017, the United Nations passed a resolution banning member states from employing North Korean workers abroad after Pyongyang’s provocative missile tests. 

North Koreans filmed stroking a dog beside large cooking pot in Russia sparked fears workers were eating local pets

North Koreans filmed stroking a dog beside large cooking pot in Russia sparked fears workers were eating local pets 

In the clip, North Korean workers can be seen affectionately petting a dog reportedly meant to guard the site, while a pot of red liquid bubbles away nearby

In the clip, North Korean workers can be seen affectionately petting a dog reportedly meant to guard the site, while a pot of red liquid bubbles away nearby

The unusual video comes amid a swirl of speculation on social media, where locals have voiced alarm over a string of missing pets

The unusual video comes amid a swirl of speculation on social media, where locals have voiced alarm over a string of missing pets

Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council, officially signed the resolution -but appears to have quietly flouted it.

The labourers, many of whom live in camps under tight surveillance, are reported to have been deployed in Russia’s mines, logging camps, construction sites, and, most recently, e-commerce warehouses. 

According to reports this week, hundreds of North Koreans are now working for Wildberries, Russia’s version of Amazon.

Their presence has grown more visible as Russia grapples with a deepening labour shortage, worsened by its war in Ukraine, which has siphoned millions of workers into the military and arms production.

But the Kremlin’s growing dependence on Pyongyang doesn’t stop at labour. 

North Korea has reportedly sent up to 12,000 troops to support Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, especially around the contested Kursk region.

According to a new report by South Korea’s Institute for Defence Analysis, Kim’s regime may have pocketed as much as £15billion from its military and economic support for Russia – a staggering sum for the isolated nation.

It comes after Kim Jong Un reportedly banned North Koreans from eating hotdogs in a bizarre new crackdown in January.

The despot, 40, claimed that the popular fast food dish is too Western and says that serving the food will now be deemed an act of treason.

Anyone in the hermit state caught selling hotdogs on the streets or cooking the American sausage dish in their homes risks being shipped off to labour camps.

Speaking to The Sun, a vendor in the northern province of Ryanggang said: ‘Sales of budae-jjigae in the market have stopped’.

Budae-jjigae is a spicy Korean-American fusion dish made from broth, Korean hot pepper paste, kimchi, American Spam, beans, and sausage.

The dish was imported from affluent, pro-Western South Korea in 2017.

The vendor also confirmed to the newspaper that North Korean police and market management have said anyone caught selling the savoury meal will be shut down.

The bizarre move is part of the regime’s ongoing efforts to suppress what it views as decadent, capitalist culture infiltrating the country.

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