CIA recruits intelligence agents from North Korea, China, and Iran following Russia
Releases promotional videos in respective languages
The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has created and released promotional videos titled "How to Safely Contact the CIA" in the languages of North Korea, China, and Iran to secure informants in those countries.
On the 2nd (local time), the CIA released videos introducing how to safely contact the CIA on social networking services (SNS) and the dark web (an internet space that cannot be found through general search engines and requires specific programs to access) in Korean, Mandarin Chinese (the standard language of China), and Persian on platforms such as YouTube.
Video Produced by CIA to Recruit North Korean Informants [Image source: YouTube channel 'CIA' capture]
The Korean guide for North Korean residents used expressions commonly used in North Korea. In the 2-minute and 10-second video composed only of text, the CIA stated, "The CIA provides instructions on how to safely contact the CIA in each country's language," and warned, "Be cautious of websites and social networking accounts impersonating the CIA, and verify whether the website address and accounts are official CIA ones." The video further advised not to contact the CIA using computers at home or work, to use the latest version of web browsers, and to be sure to delete browsing history after use.
To avoid surveillance, the video recommended using the anonymous network Tor or trusted virtual private networks (VPNs), while advising to avoid VPN providers from countries unfriendly to the United States such as North Korea, Russia, Iran, and China. When contacting the CIA, it instructed to include one's name, position and contact information, current city and country, and any information that might interest the CIA. It also noted that it may take time for the CIA to respond and explained in detail that response emails might end up in the "spam mailbox," so users should check their spam folders as well. The video concluded with the greeting, "We look forward to working with you. We await your contact."
In the past, the CIA is known to have recruited informants in Russia using similar methods. Since 2022, the CIA has posted guides in Russian on SNS to recruit Russians and produced videos in 2023. A CIA spokesperson stated in a press release, "Our efforts on this front have succeeded in Russia," and added, "We want people in other authoritarian regimes to know that we have opened the door."
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