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[ Country-by-Country Reports ] NORTH KOREA (TIER 3)
[Extracted from U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June 2009] The
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) is a source
country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced
labor and commercial sexual exploitation. The most common form of trafficking
involves North Korean women and girls subjected to involuntary servitude
after willingly crossing the border into the People’s Republic of China
(PRC). Many of them are from North Hamgyong province, one of the poorest
provinces in the country, located near the Chinese border. Once in China,
they are picked up by traffickers and sold as brides to PRC nationals, often
of Korean ethnicity. In other cases, North Korean women and girls are lured
out of North Korea to escape poor economic, social, and political conditions
by the promise of food, jobs, and freedom, only to be forced into
prostitution, marriage, or exploitative labor arrangements once in China.
North Koreans trafficked into or within the PRC are often passed from one
trafficker to the next until they reach their ultimate destinations. In some
cases, women and girls may be sold to traffickers by their families or
acquaintances. Women sold as brides are sometimes re-abducted by the
traffickers or are sold by husbands who no longer want them. In some cases,
North Korean women are sold multiple times to different men by the same
trafficker. Trafficking networks of Korean-Chinese and North Korean men
operate in Northeast China and along the China-DPRK border, where they seek
out North Korean women and girls. There are some reports that businessmen who
operate along the China-DPRK border use their trade routes along the Yalu
River to traffic North Korean women into China. While many women trafficked
into China are sold as brides, some North Korean women in China are forced to
work in the highly exploitative sex industry, including as prostitutes in
brothels and in internet sex operations. Many victims of trafficking, unable
to speak Chinese, are held as virtual prisoners. The illegal status of North
Koreans in the PRC and other Southeast Asian countries increases their
vulnerability to trafficking for purposes of forced labor and sexual
exploitation. NGOs estimate that tens of thousands of North Koreans presently
live in China, more than half of whom are women; according to some estimates,
over 80 percent of North Korean refugees are victims of human trafficking. The
North Korean regime continues to use forced labor as part of an established
system of political repression. North Korean do not have a choice in the jobs
they work and not free to change jobs at will; the DPRK regime determines
what work each citizen will have. Hundreds of thousands of men, women, and
children in political prison camps are subjected to reeducation through
labor, a common punishment in which prisoners, including children, are forced
to participate in logging, mining, and crop tending. Reports indicated that
conditions in camps for political prisoners are extremely harsh. Prisoners
receive little food, little if any medical care, and many are not expected to
survive. While
exact figures are unknown, estimates of the number of North Korean contract
workers recruited by the DPRK regime to work overseas for DPRK entities and
firms vary widely, ranging from 10,000 to as high as 70,000. There continue
to be credible reports that North Koreans sent abroad are subjected to harsh
conditions, with their movements and communications restricted by DPRK
government ‘minders’ and facing threats of government reprisals
against them or their relatives in North Korea if they attempt to complain to
outside parties. Worker salaries are deposited into accounts controlled by
the North Korean government, which keeps most of the money for itself,
claiming fees for various “voluntary” contributions to government
endeavors. Workers only receive a fraction of the money paid to the North
Korean government for their work. Countries in which North Koreans reportedly
work through such arrangements include Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia,
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, Libya,
Angola, China, Mongolia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos.
Approximately 10,000 to 20,000 North Koreans have worked in the logging
industry each year in the Russian Far East since 1967. Wages of some North
Korean workers employed in Russia reportedly were withheld until the laborers
returned home, making them vulnerable to deception by North Korean authorities,
who promised relatively high payments. North Korean workers at joint ventures
with foreign investors within the DPRK are employed under arrangements
similar to those that apply to overseas contract workers. – The
North Korean government does not fully comply with the minimum standards for
the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do
so. The government does not acknowledge the existence of human trafficking,
either within the country or transnationally. The DPRK government does not
differentiate between trafficking and other forms of illegal border crossing,
such as illegal economic migration or defection. The regime actively punishes
trafficking victims for acts they commit that are the direct result of being
trafficked. Furthermore, the government contributes to the problem of
trafficking through its forced labor prison camps, where North Koreans live
in conditions of servitude, receiving little food and little if any medical
care. Recommendations for North Korea: Recognize human trafficking as a problem in North
Korea distinct from people smuggling; institute a systematic victim
identification procedure to identify and protect victims of trafficking;
cease the punishment of trafficking victims for acts committed as a direct
result of being trafficked; and support NGO presence in North Korea to assist
victims of trafficking. Prosecution Protection Prevention |