▲ Secretary of State Antony Blinken is seen speaking in a ceremony marking the release of the 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report at the state department in Washington on June 15, 2023 in this captured image. (Yonhap)

US trafficking report-Koreas

U.S. keeps S. Korea on Tier 2 in human trafficking report, citing insufficient efforts

By Byun Duk-kun

WASHINGTON, June 15 (Yonhap) -- The United States has placed South Korea on Tier 2 in its annual trafficking in persons report, the report showed Thursday, citing what it called "inadequate" efforts to prevent related crimes and protect victims.

The report, published by the Department of State, said the country is making "significant efforts" but failed to fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.

South Korea was downgraded to the second-highest level last year for the first time in two decades.

"The Government of the Republic of Korea (ROK) does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so," the report said, referring to South Korea by its official name.

"The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore the ROK remained on Tier 2," it added.

The document classifies 188 nations into four tiers -- Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 2 "watchlist" and Tier 3 -- in terms of actions in preventing trafficking, protecting victims and prosecuting traffickers.

The report recommended that South Korea amend the definition of trafficking under the Crimes Act to be consistent with the definition of trafficking under international treaties and protocols dealing with the issue.

"While the government maintained general statistics on victims and offenders across all subsections of the criminal code, it did not adequately distinguish trafficking cases from related crimes such as sexual assault, statutory rape, and commercial sex," the report said.

"This made it difficult to determine which law enforcement actions reported by the government involved human trafficking as defined by international law."

The annual report also advises Seoul to "increase efforts to investigate and prosecute traffickers, particularly labor traffickers, including those who use forced labor on ROK-flagged fishing vessels," and "seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, which should include significant prison terms."

It also highlights the need for the South Korean government to "ensure police, immigration, labor, and other officials consistently screen for trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, including individuals in commercial sex, fishermen, and migrant workers."

North Korea, on the other hand, was placed in the lowest category of Tier 3.

"The government did not demonstrate any efforts to address human trafficking," the report said of Pyongyang.

The report also notes a "government policy or pattern of human trafficking in prison camps as part of an established system of political repression," adding there are an estimated 80,000 to 120,000 people in North Korea's political prison camps, along with an undetermined number of people in other forms of detention facilities.

"The (North Korean) government used proceeds from state-sponsored forced labor to fund government operations," it says.

In addition, North Korea did not report any trafficking-related law enforcement efforts or efforts to protect victims, according to the report.

The report also highlighted a need to protect North Korean defectors in China, saying they are "vulnerable to sex and labor trafficking in the PRC," referring to China by its formal name, the People's Republic of China.

"Traffickers also sell DPRK women to PRC national men for forced marriages, whereby they are often subsequently forced into commercial sex, domestic service, agricultural, or other types of work," it said, adding that as many as 30,000 children that have been born to North Korean women and Chinese men have not been registered upon birth, making them "stateless and vulnerable to possible exploitation."

DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.

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