SEOUL, March 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has modestly increased the number of guest workers sent to the Middle East and Africa to earn hard currency for the cash-strapped regime, a senior Seoul diplomat said Thursday.

Impoverished North Korea recruits its people to work abroad and reportedly keeps most of their earnings, one of the few sources of hard currency for the isolated regime. Along with China and Russia, the Middle East and Africa are two of the major destinations for North Korean laborers.