A report by the Environmental Justice Foundation denounces the extreme conditions inflicted on North Koreans working on Chinese ships. The research is based on interviews with workers of other nationalities, especially Indonesians and Filipinos. The boats involved are also accused of illegal fishing.

Seoul (AsiaNews) – Scores of North Koreans have been forced to work on Chinese-flagged ships, enduring years of physical abuse and, in some cases, kept at sea for more than a decade, this according to a report released today by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF).

The London-based environmental organisation monitored Chinese fishing boats in the southwestern Indian Ocean between 2019 and 2024. Its research highlights illegal fishing by Chinese vessels, and how the presence of North Korean workers on board violates UN sanctions imposed on North Korea in 2017.

Although it has been known for some time that China and Russia employ North Korean workers, this is the first time that their presence on fishing vessels active on the high seas has been documented.

The report – based on accounts from workers of other nationalities, particularly Filipinos and Indonesians – describes conditions of extreme exploitation.

“The experiences of the North Korean crew, and particularly the number of years they allegedly spent at sea, constitute forced labour of a magnitude that surpasses much of that witnessed in a global fishing industry already replete with abuse,” reads the EJF report.

According to the document, North Korean workers face severe restrictions, such as a ban on owning mobile phones to contact family and on leaving ships even when they dock in ports.

These conditions fall under the definition of forced labour by the International Labour Organisation. In addition, the captains of the 12 ships involved actively conceal the presence of the North Koreans, by moving them from one boat to another to prevent them from disembarking.

“Six Koreans were not allowed to go home even after they completed their four-year contract. They were just moved from one ship to another,” an Indonesian crew member said.

“Give or take seven years, or eight years,” the North Koreans who worked on the vessel “were not given permission to go home by their government,” said another source.

According to a report by the US State Department, the North Korean regime withholds up to 90 per cent of the wages of its workers abroad, estimated at between 20,000 and 100,000 in China alone.

This system allows North Korea to obtain foreign currency despite sanctions, allowing it to partly finance its nuclear and missile programmes.

In addition to exploiting workers, the EJF report also notes how Chinese fishing vessels violate environmental rules, engaging in shark finning, fishing for prohibited species and capturing  marine megafauna, like dolphins, which end up in some fish markets in Asia and Europe.

According to the environmental organisation, regulatory obstacles and lack of monitoring in ports have allowed these practices to continue undisturbed.

“The use of North Korean labour on board Chinese fishing vessels is a damning indictment of the failure to regulate our oceans,” said Steve Trent, EJF CEO and founder.

“Illegal fishing and human rights abuses can be found almost without exception on board China’s distant-water vessels. However, the use of North Korean forced labour for such long periods is a particularly severe example of the egregious misconduct uncovered by EJF.”

“The ripple effects of this can be felt far and wide, with the fish caught using this illegal labour reaching seafood markets across the world,” Trent laments.

“China bears the bulk of the responsibility, but when products tainted by modern slavery can be found on our own plates, it is clear that collective responsibility needs to be taken by Flag states and regulating bodies as well.

“Failure to take the necessary, low- or no-cost steps to end this outlined by the Charter for Fisheries Transparency, from mandatory transmission of AIS signals to the elimination or close monitoring of trans-shipment, means turning a blind eye to extreme, avoidable suffering.”

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