Kuwait’s government has confirmed that the Gulf country never stopped issuing visas to North Korean workers, despite US government reports stating otherwise. A State Department report from June stated that Kuwait stopped granting visas to North Korean laborers, most of whom work under poor conditions while employers retain 90% of their wages. A statement from Kuwait said that there were no plans to decrease the numbers of North Korean workers in the country, and that they have never done so. However, a later statement from a state-run news agency quoted an anonymous government official as saying that it had stopped issuing visas, and that Kuwait was committed to the UN Security Council resolution concerning the economic embargo on North Korea. North Korea also sends workers to Oman, Qatar, and the UAE.
See "Kuwait Says North Korean Workers Welcome Then Refutes Itself", Jon Gambrell, Bloomberg, August 11, 2017