Is That Wig Made by Slave Labor?
Many of us are aware of the problems related to the use of enslaved labor (typically victims of human trafficking, although there is at least some traditional chattel slavery) in the production of such imported foods as coffee and chocolate. But did you know that a substantial portion of wigs and false eyelashes made with real human hair are produced by enslaved laborers?
In this case, it's a situation more akin to the GULAG system in the old Soviet Union. In North Korea, people are often sentenced to periods of punitive labor for political crimes as trifling as being perceived as failing to show proper respect to the Dear Leader Kim Jong-un, or his grandfather the Great Leader and Eternal President, Kim Il-sung. And many of these laborers are assembling wigs from human hair imported from the People's Republic of China, which are then re-imported back to the PRC to be sold under a "made in China" label. This practice skirts the various sanctions that have been placed on the brutal dictatorship in an attempt to limit its nuclear ambitions.
In this case, it's a situation more akin to the GULAG system in the old Soviet Union. In North Korea, people are often sentenced to periods of punitive labor for political crimes as trifling as being perceived as failing to show proper respect to the Dear Leader Kim Jong-un, or his grandfather the Great Leader and Eternal President, Kim Il-sung. And many of these laborers are assembling wigs from human hair imported from the People's Republic of China, which are then re-imported back to the PRC to be sold under a "made in China" label. This practice skirts the various sanctions that have been placed on the brutal dictatorship in an attempt to limit its nuclear ambitions.