There was a report that the U.S. Embassy in Korea has launched a fact-finding probe into the so-called "salt farm slavery case" that occurred in Sinan, South Jeolla. In response, some citizens are criticizing it as "a national disgrace."
According to an SBS report on the 18th, the U.S. Embassy in Korea recently began examining the facts of a case in which a salt farm owner in Sinan was arrested on charges of forcing A, a person in their 60s with an intellectual disability, to work without pay for 10 years.
The U.S. Embassy is said to be holding meetings with A's attorney and disability rights groups. The embassy reportedly asked why A had not been rescued earlier and why A had not been separated from the salt farm owner even after Sinan County requested an investigation into the owner in 2023.
The U.S. Embassy is said to plan to draft a report on this case and submit it to Washington.
The U.S. State Department publishes a "Trafficking in Persons Report" every year. The report classifies countries into tiers 1 through 3, and Korea had been tier 1 but was downgraded to tier 2 in the 2022 report for the first time in 20 years.
Citizens are voicing criticism online, asking, "Why is the United States doing what the Korean government should do?" They are showing critical reactions such as "Thank you to the United States" and "It's shameful."
Earlier, on the 10th, the Criminal Division 2 of the Mokpo Branch of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office (headed by Director General Hwang Young-seop) arrested B, a salt farm owner, on charges of quasi-fraud, violating the Welfare of Persons with Disabilities Act, and violating the Act on the Prohibition of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities and Remedy against Infringement of Their Rights. B is accused of making A, a person with an intellectual disability, work at the owner's salt farm from April 2014 to August last year and withholding about 96 million won in wages.