US: No North Korean IT workers allowed overseas
The United States sees that North Korean IT workers should not be allowed to do freelance work in their field because it "circumvents sanctions", taking the latter to a whole new level.
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A North Korean student using a computer at Kim Il Sung University
The United States is seeking to prevent DPRK citizens from obtaining employment in other countries as information technology (IT) workers, the US Department of Treasury announced in a Monday advisory.
Washington claimed that North Korean nationals were posing as people from other countries while trying to obtain IT posts.
"The US Departments of State and Treasury and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued an advisory to alert the international community, the private sector, and the public to attempts by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and DPRK IT workers to obtain employment while posing as non-DPRK nationals," the advisory read.
The advisory itself gives details on how North Korean IT workers operate and identifies "red flags" to help firms avoid hiring freelance developers from the DPRK.
The departments accused North Korea of dispatching thousands of highly skilled IT workers around the world, "earning revenue for the DPRK that contributes to its weapons program in violation of US and UN sanctions."
The US also claimed that the workers were "us[ing] privileged access gained as contractors for illicit purposes, including enabling malicious cyber intrusions by other DPRK actors."
The vast majority of the workers, the US alleged "are subordinate to and working on behalf of entities directly involved in the DPRK's UN-prohibited WMD and ballistic missile programs, as well as its advanced conventional weapons development and trade sectors."
Reportedly, the "North Koreans working on behalf of Pyongyang" engage in a wide range of IT development work in various sectors, such as:
Mobile applications and web-based application
Building virtual currency exchange platforms and digital coins
General IT support
Graphic animation
Online gambling programs
Mobile games
Dating applications
Artificial intelligence-related applications
Hardware and firmware development
Virtual reality and augmented reality programming
Facial and biometric recognition software
Database development and management
