Purchasing seafood in some American stores may inadvertently fund North Korean nuclear weapons

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published 4 October 2017

North Korean workers in China are processing seafood that ends up for sale in American stores, an Associated Press report published Wednesday revealed. The foods end up in U.S. retailers including Walmart and Aldi.

AP reporters made the discovery while observing a seafood processing plant in China that exports fish to American stores. The North Korean government sends workers to countries including China, Poland, Russia, Uruguay, and the Gulf states to work in a variety of industries, then strips them of a portion of their salaries — sometimes up to 70 percent. North Korean minders ensure that workers do not have access to phones or email and that workers walk between the dormitory and their jobs in pairs— conditions that many in the U.S. would refer to as "modern slavery."

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U.N. sanctions prevent North Korea from obtaining work permits for new workers abroad, but do nothing to constrict the workforce already overseas. John Connelly, president of the National Fisheries Institute, told AP, "While we understand that hiring North Korean workers may be legal in China, we are deeply concerned that any seafood companies could be inadvertently propping up the despotic regime."

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Elianna Spitzer is a rising junior at Brandeis University, majoring in Politics and American Studies. She is also a news editor and writer at The Brandeis Hoot. When she is not covering campus news, Elianna can be found arguing legal cases with her mock trial team.q

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