Korea Downgraded from Tier 1 to Tier 2 in US Human Trafficking Report after 20 Years

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] South Korea was downgraded from Tier 1 to Tier 2 for the first time in 20 years in the U.S. State Department's 'Trafficking in Persons Report.' North Korea maintained its status as the 'worst trafficking country' for 20 consecutive years.

The State Department on the 19th (local time) released the '2022 Trafficking in Persons Report', evaluating South Korea's status related to human trafficking as Tier 2.

South Korea received Tier 3 in the first report published in 2001 but maintained Tier 1 every year from 2002 until last year. However, in this year's report, it was downgraded one step to the intermediate Tier 2. This report reflects the government's efforts and achievements in eradicating human trafficking from April last year, the final year of the Moon Jae-in administration, to March this year.

The State Department explained the downgrade by stating, "Compared to 2020, prosecutions related to human trafficking have decreased, and the government has not established long-term measures at the national level regarding trafficking of foreigners." It is known that the U.S. shared the preliminary evaluation of South Korea with the Korean government before publishing the report.

The report evaluated that although the Korean government made efforts such as adding new educational programs related to human trafficking and establishing new guidelines for victim protection, it did not show clear results compared to before. It also pointed out issues related to forced labor in fisheries using foreigners, criticizing the Korean government for not identifying related forced labor. Additionally, the report included that some serious traffickers received light sentences of less than one year, deferred prosecution, or fines.

Besides South Korea, 133 countries including Japan, Norway, Switzerland, Italy, Brazil, Egypt, Ghana, Mexico, Pakistan, Portugal, and Saudi Arabia were listed in Tier 2. Tier 1 included 30 countries such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Belgium, Canada, Chile, and Finland.

North Korea was classified as a Tier 3 country, the lowest rank, for 20 consecutive years. North Korea has been evaluated as the lowest-ranked country every year since 2003. The State Department pointed out, "North Korea completely fails to meet the minimum standards for eradicating human trafficking," and stated, "North Korea incarcerates 80,000 to 120,000 people in political prison camps and confines an unestimable number of people in other forms of detention facilities, including labor reform camps." It further urged North Korea to stop forced labor, including overseas dispatch, criticizing the regime for exploiting forced labor of overseas dispatched workers as a means of earning foreign currency.

Furthermore, the report mentioned China's 'One Belt One Road' (일대일로) policy and criticized, "China and related countries are conducting large-scale construction projects in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and South America, committing human rights abuses such as deceptive employment based on debt, wage exploitation, long working hours, and restrictions on freedom."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.