North Korean workers prep seafood in China that goes to US stores, restaurants
Americans buying salmon for dinner at Walmart or Aldi may be inadvertently subsidising Pyongyang as it builds nuclear weapons programme
The workers wake up each morning on metal bunk beds in fluorescent-lit Chinese dormitories, North Koreans outsourced by their government to process seafood that ends up in American stores and homes.
Privacy is forbidden. They cannot leave their compounds without permission. They must take the few steps to the factories in pairs or groups, with North Korean minders ensuring no one strays. They have no access to telephones or email. And they are paid a fraction of their salaries, while the rest – as much as 70 per cent – is taken by North Korea’s government.
This means Americans buying salmon for dinner at Walmart or Aldi may inadvertently have subsidised the North Korean government as it builds its nuclear weapons programme. Their purchases may also have supported what the United States calls “modern day slavery” – even if the jobs are highly coveted by North Koreans.
Besides seafood, AP found North Korean labourers making wood flooring and sewing garments in factories in Hunchun, Jilin province. Those industries also export to the US from Hunchun, but AP did not track specific shipments except for seafood.
American companies are not allowed to import products made by North Korean workers anywhere in the world, under a law signed by US President Donald Trump in early August. Importers or company officials could face criminal charges for using North Korean workers or materially benefiting from their work, according to the law.