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A group that concealed the nationality of North Korean information technology (IT) experts and had them work remotely for American companies has been caught. The photo shows North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un giving a speech in November last year. (Photo by YNA·Yonhap News)
A group that concealed the nationality of North Korean information technology (IT) experts and enabled them to work remotely for U.S. companies has been caught.
On the 23rd (local time), the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it had indicted five individuals?Eric Prince and Emmanuel Asiter, U.S. nationals; Jin Seong-il and Park Jin-seong, North Korean nationals; and Pedro de los Reyes, a Mexican national?on charges including conspiracy to commit fraud against the U.S. government and money laundering.
According to the complaint released by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, from April 2018 to August last year, they employed North Korean IT experts at least 64 U.S. companies and pocketed $866,255 (approximately 1.24 billion KRW).
Prosecutors estimate that the money funneled to North Korean authorities amounts to several hundred billion KRW. Some of the North Korean IT experts who concealed their nationality and obtained employment reportedly earned more than $300,000 (approximately 430 million KRW) annually, indicating that the compensation paid by U.S. companies was high. In fact, there was a case where 14 North Korean IT experts formed a team, contracted with a U.S. company, and received $88 million (approximately 126.3 billion KRW) in one year. It is known that North Korean authorities take more than 90% of the amount earned by IT technicians.
According to prosecutors, the two indicted Americans operated an IT staffing company to employ North Korean IT experts and helped them apply for remote work positions at U.S. financial institutions and multinational retailers using stolen or forged passports. After these individuals succeeded in obtaining employment, they installed special software on work laptops sent by each company to deceive the companies, then delivered the laptops to the North Korean IT experts.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) discovered equipment at their residence in Florida that disguised the work location to make it appear as if the North Korean IT experts were working in the U.S.
Prosecutors report that Jin Seong-il and Park Jin-seong currently reside in Liaoning Province, China. Pedro de los Reyes, the Mexican national, was living in Sweden but was arrested in the Netherlands on the 10th.
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