Reducing Modern Day Slavery in North Korea
The world is significantly behind in their progress to accomplish the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals Agenda put forth by the United Nations (UN). In addition, the 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea said “North Korea doesn’t have any parallels in the contemporary world” because of the scale of its human rights violations. These two observations set the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) well behind the mark in eradicating modern slavery to achieve SDG 8.7: to eradicate forced labor. In a country where the leader is guilty of ten out of eleven crimes against humanity, North Korea lacks in improving human rights, specifically by reducing forms of slavery prevalent in the nation such as: forced labor, human trafficking, debt bondage, child marriage, or exploitation of children.
Modern slavery varies in transparency. For example, it can exist in a country where child marriage is legal and acceptable, though child marriage is still a form of slavery in nature. In North Korea, conditions make citizens more likely to flee, causing them to be more susceptible to be trafficked. China’s one-child policy resulted in an imbalance in males and females, giving North Korea the opportunity to sell commercial brides for profit. Though a 2013 policy relaxed the one child policy, the commercialization of women has not been alleviated. In total, DPRK makes approximately $2-3 billion in profits from forced labor, including construction, resource extraction, or agriculture. On a broader picture, the United States sells around $144 billion of goods at risk of forced labor annually.
Under Kim Jong Un’s regime, all citizens are subject to a job assigned to them by the government. Often times, however, this work goes uncompensated except for scarce food rations. Failure to attend this uncompensated labor is a crime punishable by 3 to 6 months in forced labor camps called rodong dallyeondae. Political crimes also result in unfair detainment by the government. An estimated 80,000-120,000 North Korean citizens are imprisoned within camps where they are subject to forced labor. There, they suffer from conditions such as inclement weather, physically brutal and dangerous work, and lack of food. Women are subject to sexual assault and forced abortion, and food is prioritized for those deemed as less expendable citizens. Children between the ages of 10 and 16 are subject to work on farms every day in order to generate funds to pay school administrators and teachers, maintain the school, and fund governmental endeavours. According to UNESCO, North Korea self-reports a 100% literacy rate for citizens over the age of 15. This seemingly unattainable statistic demonstrates the lack of international exposure to the North Korean education system. At schools, if unable to meet quotas, the threat of physical abuse looms. Abuse of this nature results in an increased risk of mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression, and prevents students from earning an optimally adequate education.
This process of enslavement is more forgiving to the socially elite, though they are not forgiven entirely either. Even Dr. Jang Jin-sung, the equivalent to the poet laureate to Kim Jong Un’s father’s regime, found himself unable to escape work. However, in most cases, the rich are able to acquire a job by paying for one. By doing so, they avoid detention. As children, North Koreans are raised to believe it is their moral obligation to be good and their righteous duty to serve the state. Such propaganda essentially serves the purpose of brainwashing the younger generations to believe their conditions are acceptable. This lack of understanding coupled with the government’s weak response to slavery perpetuates forced labor in the nation. Overall, 2.6 million are estimated to be victims of slavery in one way or another, affecting one in every ten North Koreans. DPRK has the highest prevalence of slavery at 4.4%.
Though the international community relies on sanctioning to prevent this issue from accelerating, it has not been followed in the past. For instance, Russia has violated UN sanctions and hired “slave” workers from the DPRK in the past and there is speculation of North Korean slaves being financed to build the Russian Olympic stadium. Another common temporary solution has been appeasement. This successfully prevents nuclear warfare compared to actively imposing legal actions against those who employ forced laborers from North Korea. However, ignoring the humanitarian rights being violated directly goes against the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the fundamental values of the organization itself. Walk Free, a human rights organization focused on eradicating modern slavery, has conducted research and built the Global Slavery Index, which “uncovers the scale of the problem and enables robust solutions at a country level” to drive system change. The organization creates guildelines for change, has published four editions of the Global Slavery Index, and campaigns for the passage of legislation to agitate change.
With the work of the UN and NGOs, the severity of forced labor can be reduced through open international dialogue including North Korea. For example, the international community can help stabilize an economy so the country can afford to provide wages to workers and ensure the humanitarian treatment of workers to some degree. As of August 1st 2018, North Korea announced amnesty for people “convicted of crimes against the country and people”, though similar promises have been made in the past and not followed. In 2014, the UN called on urgent action by the international community in compliance with SDGs for 2030. Aside from this, it is stressed to not impose economically deteriorating sanctions to prevent a greater need for unpaid labor.
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