This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz RM Report site at 10:30 a.m. on Jun. 8, 2026.
Riley M. Barnes, Deputy Minister of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), visited Korea and met in the afternoon on the 8th at the U.S. Embassy in Korea with domestic civic groups that have advocated for the rights of foreign workers. (☞[Exclusive] U.S. deputy minister comes to Korea to hear about "forced labor" conditions)
At the roundtable, they were said to have discussed the human rights situation of foreign workers employed as seafarers and seasonal laborers, among others. Civic group officials explained issues raised at domestic salt farms and aquaculture and fisheries worksites, including long working hours for foreign workers, unpaid wages, poor housing, and restrictions on movement.
The Donald Trump administration has continued to point out the human rights issues of foreign workers in Korea. A representative example is when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), under the Department of Homeland Security, in April last year banned the import of salt produced at a salt farm in Sinan, South Jeolla, saying it was made with forced labor.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) also cited Korea's forced labor issue as one of the non-tariff barriers in this year's National Trade Estimate (NTE) report. The point was that artificially suppressing labor costs could provide an unfair advantage to certain goods and services produced in Korea.
The issue of foreign workers' rights is also intertwined with the Trump administration's tariff policy. Using the import of goods made with forced labor as a pretext, the Trump administration decided to impose new tariffs of more than 10% on 60 countries, including Korea. It is seen as a move to effectively revive reciprocal tariffs, which were blocked by a court ruling, through a different legal basis.
Deputy Minister Barnes also visited Saegero Church in Busan the previous day and met with Senior Pastor Son Hyun-bo, among others. He was told of concerns in the domestic Protestant community about a Civil Act amendment that would allow the competent authority to revoke a religious corporation's establishment permit if it violates the principle of separation of church and state or the Public Official Election Act, as well as about a government-pushed "anti-discrimination law."
Belsys Romero, liaison for the White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, also accompanied Deputy Minister Barnes. Established by President Trump, the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives primarily develops policies to respond to anti-Christian and anti-Semitic actions.
Deputy Minister Barnes is a key figure overseeing human rights and labor policy within the U.S. Department of State. Barnes plays a leading role in the drafting of the department's annual country human rights reports.