US warns against hiring of North Korean IT workers flushing money out for Kim's regime

The United States has issued a warning for businesses against accidentally hiring information technology (IT) workers from North Korea who forge identities to flush money out of the firms for the Kim Jong Un regime. In a joint advisory issued by the US State and Treasury departments and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Washington said that the effort was intended to circumvent the sanctions imposed by the US and the United Nations (UN) while also facilitating the inflow of cash for North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. 

The advisory stated, “There are thousands of DPRK IT workers both dispatched overseas and located within the DPRK, generating revenue that is remitted back to the North Korean government”.

"These IT workers take advantage of existing demands for specific IT skills, such as software and mobile application development, to obtain freelance employment contracts from clients around the world, including in North America, Europe, and East Asia," the advisory said.

According to US President Joe Biden’s administration, several North Korean workers pretended to be from South Korea, Japan and other Asian countries. The advisory further even laid out a series of red flags that employers should remain vigilant about such as refusal to participate in video calls and requests to receive payments in virtual currency.

These North Koreans mainly operate from China, Russia: US

These North Koreans, according to the US, were found to be mostly based in China and Russia with a smaller number of them operating from Africa and Southeast Asia. US State and Treasury departments and FBI said that the majority of the money which these ‘IT workers’ earn is taken by the North Korean government. The American officials further stated that the companies in the country that hired and paid such workers may be exposing themselves to legal consequences for sanctions violations. 

“The United States is committed to disrupting illicit DPRK revenue-generating activities, which may facilitate criminal activity, provide direct support to the DPRK’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs, and threaten international peace and security,” the advisory said. 

It is also to note here that the latest advisory against businesses hiring North Korean IT workers came in the backdrop of Washington already issuing a number of advisories on the secretive nation regarding ballistic missile procurement, cyber threats, illicit maritime activities, and supply chain links. 

Image: AP/Pixabay