The US government has announced that it has indicted 14 North Korean nationals for violating sanctions by falsely representing themselves while working remotely and earning illegal income.
According to the Department of Justice, the 14 individuals worked for two front companies operated by North Korean authorities and based in Yanji, Jilin Province, China, and Vladivostok in Russia's Far East.
Using the personal information of U.S. citizens that they had stolen or purchased, they applied to jobs at U.S. IT companies and other organizations, worked remotely, and received compensation.
The two front companies are believed to have employed at least 130 IT engineers.
The Justice Department said, "North Korea forced companies around the world to hire thousands of skilled IT engineers in order to generate revenue.
The judicial authorities have indicted 14 North Korean nationals, including the heads of front companies, on charges of violating U.S. sanctions. The State Department has provided information on the 14 individuals.
The US has announced that it will offer a reward of up to $5 million (approximately 760 million yen) to those who have been hired.
The government has called for careful verification of the bank accounts and addresses of employees and warned against North Korean IT engineers who lie about their identities. However, the methods are becoming more sophisticated, and advanced methods using artificial intelligence (IT) are being used.
Countermeasures are becoming more difficult. In July of this year, a security firm in the United States was deceived into hiring engineers. In August, a person who was acting as a job broker for IT engineers was deceived.
Meanwhile, South Korea arrested two companies under the Defense Ministry and the Ministry of Munitions Industry of the Workers' Party of Korea last year for their involvement in foreign currency earnings by North Korean IT engineers.
The ministry has also designated three educational institutions in the field of education and seven individuals as targets of its own sanctions. The educational institutions in question are the ones where Ri Sol-ju, the wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has attended in the past.
At the time of the sanctions, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "We are not only targeting organizations and personnel directly involved in foreign currency earnings, but also training institutions and collaborators."
"By imposing sanctions, we can expect the effect of restricting overall activities," he said, emphasizing the significance of the move. In March of this year, the National Police Agency in Japan reported that a North Korean IT engineer had disguised himself as a Japanese national while in China and other foreign countries.
The ministry warned that some of the companies were suspected of receiving payment for software and app development work from Japanese companies.
At the time, the National Police Agency warned of cases where the name registered on the site was different from the name on the account in which the reward was received, or where multiple accounts were created with the same ID.
He also pointed out that if a company places an order for work while being aware that funds will flow to North Korea, it may be in violation of the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act and other laws.
It is said that there are cases where a North Korean IT engineer earns as much as $300,000 (approximately 45.78 million yen) a year, but security education, etc.
According to Knowbefor, a US company that deals with the IT industry, these IT engineers are forced to work in poor conditions and most of their wages are exploited. The wages are then laundered and sent to North Korean commanders.
In addition, the United Nations Security Council's Expert Panel on North Korea Sanctions has stated in its report on North Korean IT engineers since 2019 that the income of engineers is
They point out that it is a source of funding for North Korea's nuclear and missile development.
2024/12/23 12:57 KST
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