this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2023
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Thousands of IT workers contracting with U.S. companies have for years secretly sent millions of dollars of their wages to North Korea for use in its ballistic missile program, FBI says (ca.finance.yahoo.com)
submitted 1 year ago by L4s@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Thousands of IT workers contracting with U.S. companies have for years secretly sent millions of dollars of their wages to North Korea for use in its ballistic missile program, FBI says::ST. LOUIS (AP) — Thousands of information technology workers contracting with U.S. companies have for years secretly sent millions of dollars of their wages to North Korea for use in its ballistic missile program, FBI and Department of Justice officials said. The Justice Department said Wednesday that IT workers dispatched and contracted by North Korea to work remotely with companies in St. Louis and elsewhere in the U.S. have been using false identities to get the jobs. The money they earned wa

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[–] logicbomb@lemmy.world 39 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Court documents allege that the government of North Korea dispatched thousands of skilled IT workers to live primarily in China and Russia with the goal of deceiving businesses from the U.S. and elsewhere into hiring them as freelance remote employees.

This is fucking tragic. Imagine leaving North Korea, and you'd know for sure that the government has been lying to you your whole life, but you still have to send your salary back.

I didn't get through the whole article. But I wonder why these people didn't just defect and keep their good jobs and money. Par for the course would be that their families were being threatened back in NK.

[–] luthis@lemmy.nz 12 points 1 year ago

Hit the nail on the head. That's exactly why they didn't defect.

[–] CosmicTurtle@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

From what I know about North Korea, I highly suspect that the people sent were highly loyal, like the troops that they put in the DMZ.

There was a documentary that I saw many years ago (and admittedly have been looking for it again since) that showed just how much control the government has over its people. The documentary made it a point to say that they weren't sure if the people they interviewed actually believed that Kim Jung Un was a god or if they just said that for the cameras. Their devotion to him is devout.

[–] AlmightySnoo@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

I didn't get through the whole article. But I wonder why these people didn't just defect

Because Russia and China are North Korea's allies and just recently China has been sending defectors back to North Korea.

[–] RTRedreovic@feddit.ch 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Keyword: "allege"

[–] StalksEveryone 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

bigger keyword: Yahoo

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

It's an AP story.

[–] Xanvial@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago

Sound like income tax with extra steps

[–] TauZero@mander.xyz 13 points 1 year ago

This is like that Key and Peele sketch where they rob the bank by working in there for 20 years.