North is cited for human trafficking

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North is cited for human trafficking

WASHINGTON - Despite North Korea’s reported tightening of border security to block the defection of its hunger-stricken people, the communist nation has made no efforts to prevent human trafficking by screening migrants along its porous border with China and Russia, the U.S. said Monday.

In its annual Global Trafficking in Persons report, the U.S. State Department ranked North Korea once again in Tier 3 for countries with the poorest record of fighting human trafficking.

A total of 23 nations, including 11 new ones, were in the list.

“Although press reports indicated that border security increased during the reporting period, there was no evidence that the government attempted to prevent human trafficking by screening migrants along the border,” it read. “Nor did the government differentiate between trafficking and illegal migration or defection.”

The department, however, reiterated most of its descriptions in the previous report for the overall trafficking situation in North Korea, a veiled communist nation where media outlets are strictly controlled and information from outside the country is restricted.

North Korea is a “source country for men, women and children who are subject to forced labor, forced marriage and sex trafficking,” the report said.

“North Korean women who make their own way to China are lured, drugged or kidnapped by traffickers upon arrival,” it added.

“Trafficking networks of Korean-Chinese and North Koreans (usually men) operate along the China-North Korean border, reportedly working with Chinese and North Korean border guards to recruit women for marriage or prostitution in China.”

The document also pointed out a problem with North Korean workers in Russia.

“Tens of thousands of North Korean workers are estimated to be employed in logging camps in Russia’s Far East, where they reportedly have only two days of rest per year and face punishment if they fail to meet production targets,” the document reported.

Since 2003, North Korea has been on the list of the Tier 3 countries that may “be subject to certain sanctions, whereby the U.S. government may withhold or withdraw nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related foreign assistance,” according to the department.


Yonhap


한글 관련 기사 [중앙일보]

북한 9년 연속 최악 인신매매국

미국 국무부는 27일(현지시간) 북한을 인신 매매 방지를 위한 최소한의 기준도 충족하지 못하는 3등급 국가로 재지정했다. 국무부는 이날 발표한 연례 인신매매실태(TIP) 보고서에서 북한·미얀마·이란·쿠바 등 23개국을 인신매매 방지를 위한 국가의 관심과 관리가 최악인 3등급 국가로 분류했다. 북한은 2003년 이후 최악 등급에서 벗어나지 못하고 있다.

보고서는 “북한은 강제 노동과 강제 결혼, 성매매를 당하는 남성·여성·아동들의 공급 국가”라며 “북한 여성과 소녀들은 식량 등을 찾기 위해 중국으로 건너갔다가 강제 결혼이나 성매매·노동 등을 강요받는 경우에 처하고 있다”고 밝혔다. 또 “북한 당국과 러시아, 아프리카, 중동부 유럽 국가 간 계약을 통해 해외로 보내진 북한 근로자들의 경우 북한 정부 기관원들에 의해 이동과 통신이 제한되고 감시당하는 생활을 하고 있으며, 월급의 대부분을 북한 당국에 빼앗기고 있다”고 전했다.

한편 국무부는 한국에 대해서는 인신매매 척결을 위해 정부가 최소한의 기준을 완전히 준수하고 있는 1등급 국가로 평가했다. 보고서는 그러나 “한국이 성매매 및 강제노동에 처해지는 남성·여성을 공급하는 곳이자 경유지인 동시에 최종 목적지이기도 하다”며 한국 내 인신매매 실태를 지적했다.

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