US Congressman Exposes North Korean Forced Labor in Seafood Supply Chain

Forced Labor in China's Seafood Industry

• 🇨🇳 A study revealed that China's fishing fleet, particularly those dealing with squid, has significant issues with forced labor.
• 🚢 Investigators faced great risks to uncover how China uses forced labor to undercut competitors by minimizing labor costs.
• ⛓️ Laborers on ships are subjected to harsh punishments, have wages withheld, and are treated as slaves, with North Korean women often exploited in processing plants.

North Korean Labor Exploitation

• 🇰🇵 North Korean women are exploited on land to process fish, and Kim Jong-un's regime profits from supplying these laborers, using the funds for its military machine.
• 💰 The regime receives a price per head for supplying North Korean laborers, which directly funds its military.

US Complicity and Legal Violations

• 🇺🇸 The United States government has been subsidizing this barbaric behavior by purchasing products tainted with forced labor through commissaries (DoD, VA, USDA) that prioritize the best price.
• ⚖️ Current US laws, including the Tariff Act, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, and the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, are potentially being violated.
• 🏛️ Legislation like H.R. 4397 aims to add another layer of enforcement to compel the administration to stop complicity in the purchase of forced labor products.