Correspondence
Email sent to the contact address for Dalian Haiqing Food.
The email said: "We’re contacting you in light of our latest investigation which concerns the use of forced labor in China’s seafood processing industry. We have information that as recently as December 2023 there were 50-70 North Korean overseas laborers working at Dalian Haiqing Food Co. Ltd. (大连海青水产有限公司).
The use of overseas North Korean workers was prohibited by the United Nations Security Council in 2017, with Resolution 2397 setting a deadline of December 2019 for the repatriation of all such workers to North Korea. According to trade records, Dalian Haiqing Food (大连海青水产有限公司) exports to customers in the United States.
Under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), passed in 2017, the United States prohibits the import of any goods produced by North Korean nationals unless clear and convincing evidence is provided that indicates the materials were not made with forced labor.
Does Dalian Haiqing Food (大连海青水产有限公司) have any comment to make in response to this email?"
Dalian Haiqing Foods replied: "Thank you for your interest in ocean-related human rights and environmental issues. However, our Dalian Haiqing Foods does not employ overseas North Korean workers. We hereby clarify. Thanks!"
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed: "Thank you for your response to our email dated January 12, 2024. We have interviewed North Koreans who said that they have worked in Dalian Haiqing’s plants after the UN deadline for the repatriation of overseas North Korean workers. They described being subjected to assault, sexual harassment, sexual abuse and forced prostitution while working at Haiqing’s facilities in Zhuanghe city. They also said that their movement was tightly controlled. Does Dalian Haiqing have any comment to make in response to these allegations? Please let us know by close of business on February 9, 2024."