North Korean workers prepare seafood going to US stores

Americans buying seafood for dinner may inadvertently have subsidized the North Korean government as it builds its nuclear weapons program, an Associated Press investigation has found. Their purchases may also have supported forced labor.

At a time when North Korea is banned from selling almost anything, the country is sending tens of thousands of workers worldwide to bring in an estimated $200 million to $500 million a year. That could account for a sizable portion of North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programs, which South Korea says have cost more than $1 billion.

While North Korean workers have been documented overseas, the AP investigation reveals that some products they make go to the United States. AP also tracked products made by North Korean workers to Canada, Germany and elsewhere in the European Union.

In response to the investigation, Senate leaders said Wednesday that the U.S. needs to keep products made by North Koreans out and get China to refuse to hire North Korean workers.

"The (Trump) administration needs to ramp up the pressure on China to crack down on trade with North Korea across the board," said top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer.

At Chinese factories, North Korean workers aren't allowed to leave their compounds without permission, and must step from housing to factories in pairs or groups, with North Korean minders. They receive a fraction of their salaries, while the rest — as much as 70 percent — is taken by the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's government. 

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