Despite UN and US sanctions making it illegal for foreign companies to use North Korean workers or import products tied to North Korean labour, China and big US companies like Walmart and McDonald’s pay little heed. Meanwhile, labourers face docked pay, prison-like conditions and the constant t.
China officially denies that these workers are in the country, but a team of researchers identified 15 seafood processing plants that have used more than 1,000 North Korean workers since 2017
Workers sent from the country to Chinese factories describe enduring beatings and sexual abuse, having their wages taken by the state, and being told that if they try to escape they will be “killed without a trace.” Ian Urbina reports.
Retail giant Reitmans brought more than 100 shipments of clothing into Canada from a Chinese factory suspected of secretly using North Korean forced labour, a months-long CBC Marketplace investigation has found. The retailer says it has stopped placing new orders with the facility