On 3 April 2025, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO) against South Korean salt supplier Taepyung Salt Farm for the use of forced labour. Although not specified in the WRO, the case seems to have involved particularly inhumane treatment of disabled workers. This is the first WRO introduced in President Trump’s second term.
The Associated Press reports that Taepyung is South Korea’s largest salt farm and produces around 16,000 tons of salt each year, roughly 6% of the nation’s total supply. Situated on Jeungdo Island in Sinan, the farm leases most of its salt fields to tenants and has faced multiple allegations of forced labour, notably in 2014 and 2021.
The US Tariff Act of 1930 prohibits all goods produced or manufactured wholly or in part by forced labour from entering the US. The WRO against Taepyung Salt Farm was issued after a number of reports of modern slavery in the sector, though few reports have been raised since 2022.
Background
In 2014 and 2015 there were reports of modern slavery of disabled people on salt farms in remote islands in South Korea’s south western coast. According to the Associated Press, this led to a national government investigation after which 63 people were reportedly rescued from the islands by police in 2015. The use of forced labour in sea salt supply was included in the US Department of State’s 2015 Trafficking in Persons report for South Korea, which stated “Some disabled or intellectually disabled Korean men are forced to work in salt farms where they experience verbal and physical abuse, nonpayment of wages, long work hours, and poor working and living conditions.” In 2019, South Korea’s Supreme Court upheld a ruling ordering the government to compensate the men who had escaped in 2014.
The issue later resurfaced in 2021 when around 12 workers in Taepyung were reportedly discovered in situations of forced labour, according to the Associated Press. In 2022 a disabled man in Taepyung was also discovered to have suffered forced labour on a salt plot managed by a family leasing from Taepyung Salt Farm. Taepyung Salt Farm responded to this allegation in 2022, stating [in an unofficial translation] that:
- “Taepyung Salt Farm’s salt production consignment contract is a contract that provides farm plots and entrusts salt production to the contractors, who are responsible for all duties related to management and production including hiring and managing workers. Hiring is under the authority of the contractors, so Taepyung Salt Farm cannot manage or interfere … We feel very sorry that such events occurred despite the aforementioned efforts of Taepyung Salt Farm. As soon as the criminal prosecution of the case was confirmed, we denied all salt production consignment contracts with the Jang Family, who were the perpetrators. We are also bringing forward a suit for the damages caused by the administrative actions”.
Following this, in 2022, a group of attorneys and activists petitioned the CBP to take action against Taepyung and other South Korean salt farms, the Associated Press has reported. It is not clear why the petition took so long to be actioned by CBP.
In its media release announcing the WRO, CBP identified a number of forced labour indicators, namely:
- Abuse of vulnerability
- Deception
- Restriction of movement
- Retention of identity documents
- Abusive living and working conditions
- Intimidation and threats
- Physical violence
- Debt bondage
- Withholding of wages
- Excessive Overtime
Taepyung Salt Farm said in a statement, reported by Reuters, that previous labour issues were connected to a former tenant from 2021, who was forcibly evicted from the farm in 2023.
In a statement to The Associated Press on Monday 7 April, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said that since 2021, relevant government bodies, including the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, have been working to improve labour conditions at Taepyung. Although it did not present direct evidence, the ministry stated its assessment that no salt currently produced at the site involves forced labour. It also expressed an intention to “actively engage” in discussions with U.S. officials regarding the issue.