South Korea warns of NK IT workers operating under false identities

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Foreign currency earnings finance weapons development

By Kang Seung-woo

The South Korean government, Thursday, released a joint advisory warning about local companies inadvertently hiring North Korean nationals in the guise of foreign-born information technology (IT) workers, as the reclusive state has increasingly dispatched highly-skilled people around the world to generate revenue to fund its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs.

It also advised South Korean companies to beef up background checks when hiring IT specialists.

The rare joint advisory came as South Korea reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un recognizes the importance of IT workers as a key source of foreign currency and revenue and supports their operations.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 2397, adopted in 2017, stipulated that member states had to repatriate all North Korean workers abroad by December 2019. However, they have illicitly and skillfully bypassed surveillance by ditching their work visas to obtain different documents when they enter a foreign country. They then work as IT specialists and earn foreign currency.

"DPRK IT workers are located all around the world, obfuscating their nationality and identities. They earn hundreds of millions of dollars a year by engaging in a wide range of IT development work, including freelance work platforms (websites/applications) and cryptocurrency development, after obtaining freelance employment contracts from companies around the world," said the advisory, jointly issued by the foreign, unification, labor and ICT ministries, as well as the National Police Agency and the Fair Trade Commission.

The DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.

According to the joint statement, many IT workers belong to North Korean organizations that are subject to U.N. Security Council sanctions, including the Munitions Industry Department and the Ministry of National Defense.

Mindful of the possibility that North Korean IT workers could win employment contracts from South Korean companies, the South's government preemptively reviewed the identity verification process of job-search platforms and found that it would be a feasible scenario.

"The act of offering employment to DPRK IT workers and paying for their work accompanies reputational risks and potential legal consequences for companies, in accordance with relevant domestic acts, such as the Development of Inter-Korean Relations Act. There is also the possibility of violating relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions. As such, companies are advised to take extra caution in this regard," it said.

The joint advisory detailed the working patterns of North Korean IT workers, the methods of concealing their identities and precautions that IT recruitment platform companies and those requesting program development should take.

"Forging identification documents is one of the easiest ways to obfuscate their identities. They illicitly collect foreigners' driver's licenses and identification cards, and replace the photos on identification document with their own using Photoshop. Moreover, they utilize a 'proxy phone call authentication service website' when having to going through the process of phone call authentication," it said, recommending that companies conduct a strict identification verification process when hiring external candidates or signing contracts.

The government hopes that the joint advisory will help build a more secure and reliable online job search information system, while contributing to blocking illegal foreign currency earnings in cyberspace from being channeled to developing North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.

"Under close cooperation with the international community, the ROK (South Korean] government will continue to raise domestic and international awareness of DPRK IT workers. We will also make further efforts to enhance due diligence of freelance IT work platforms and client companies," it added.

The advisory came six months after the United States warned of the risks of hiring North Korean IT workers.

In May, the FBI, the State and Treasury departments released a public advisory warning that North Korean IT workers provide a critical stream of revenue that helps fund the North Korean regime's highest economic and security priorities, such as its weapons development program.

"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," it said at the time, adding that they often rely on their overseas contacts to obtain freelance jobs and to interface more directly with customers.

The U.S. advisory also said that workers have earned money to support the Kim regime.

"The vast majority of them are subordinate to and working on behalf of entities directly involved in the DPRK's U.N.-prohibited WMD and ballistic missile programs, as well as its advanced conventional weapons development and trade sectors," it added.