A South Korean trading company, Daewoo International Corp. has become a target of human-rights activists for using cotton that it admits is produced by child labor and forced adult labor in Uzbekistan. Whereas the company says it has asked the country’s government to stop the practice, it says it has no plans to stop using the cotton.

Daewoo runs a number of the largest cotton-processing plants in Uzbekistan and has become the symbol of Uzbek cotton in the eyes of the Cotton Campaign. The activist network has named a pledge after the company, urging apparel companies to stop buying cotton from Daewoo. Some Western clothing brands recently pledged not to knowingly use merchandise containing Uzbek cotton in general, citing issues regarding forced adult and child labor.