Latest news with #NorthKoreans
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
North and South Korea are in an underground war - Kim Jong Un might now be winning
Listen to Jean read this article The border between North and South Korea is swamped with layers of dense barbed-wire fencing and hundreds of guard posts. But dotted among them is something even more unusual: giant, green camouflaged speakers. As I stood looking into the North one afternoon last month, one of the speakers began blasting South Korean pop songs interspersed with subversive messages. "When we travel abroad, it energises us", a woman's voice boomed out across the border - an obvious slight given North Koreans are not allowed to leave the country. From the North Korean side, I could faintly hear military propaganda music, as its regime attempted to drown out the inflammatory broadcasts. North and South Korea are technically still at war, and although it has been years since either side shelled the other, the two sides are fighting on a more subtle front: a war of information. The South tries to get information into the North, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un tries furiously to block it, as he attempts to shield his people from outside information. North Korea is the only country in the world the internet has not penetrated. All TV channels, radio stations and newspapers are run by the state. "The reason for this control is that so much of the mythology around the Kim family is made up. A lot of what they tell people is lies," says Martyn Williams, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Stimson Center, and an expert in North Korean technology and information. Expose those lies to enough people and the regime could come crumbling down, is how the thinking in South Korea goes. The loudspeakers are one tool used by the South Korean government, but behind the scenes a more sophisticated underground movement has flourished. A small number of broadcasters and non-profit organisations transmit information into the country in the dead of night on short and medium radio waves, so North Koreans can tune in to listen in secret. Thousands of USB sticks and micro-SD cards are also smuggled over the border every month loaded with foreign information - among them, South Korean films, TV dramas, and pop songs, as well as news, all designed to challenge North Korean propaganda. But now those working in the field fear that North Korea is gaining the upper hand. Not only is Kim cracking down hard on those caught with foreign content, but the future of this work could be in jeopardy. Much of it is funded by the US government, and has been hit by US President Donald Trump's recent aid cuts. So where does this leave both sides in their longstanding information war? Every month, a team at Unification Media Group (UMG), a South Korean non-profit organisation, sift through the latest news and entertainment offerings to put together playlists that they hope will resonate with those in the North. They then load them onto devices, which are categorised according to how risky they are to view. On low-risk USBs are South Korean TV dramas and pop songs - recently they included a Netflix romance series When Life Give You Tangerines, and a hit from popular South Korean singer and rapper Jennie. High-risk options include what the team calls "education programmes" – information to teach North Koreans about democracy and human rights, the content Kim is thought to fear the most. The drives are then sent to the Chinese border, where UMG's trusted partners carry them across the river into North Korea at huge risk. South Korean TV dramas may seem innocuous, but they reveal much about ordinary life there - people living in high-rise apartments, driving fast cars and eating at upmarket restaurants. It highlights both their freedom and how North Korea is many years behind. This challenges one of Kim's biggest fabrications: that those in the South are poor and miserably oppressed. "Some [people] tell us they cried while watching these dramas, and that they made them think about their own dreams for the very first time", says Lee Kwang-baek, director of UMG. It is difficult to know exactly how many people access the USBs, but testimonies from recent defectors seem to suggest the information is spreading and having an impact. "Most recent North Korean defectors and refugees say it was foreign content that motivated them to risk their lives to escape", says Sokeel Park, whose organisation Liberty in North Korea works to distribute this content. There is no political opposition or known dissidents in North Korea, and gathering to protest is too dangerous – but Mr Park hopes some will be inspired to carry out individual acts of resistance. Kang Gyuri, who is 24, grew up in North Korea, where she ran a fishing business. Then in late 2023, she fled to South Korea by boat. Watching foreign TV shows partly inspired her to go, she says. "I felt so suffocated, and I suddenly had an urge to leave." When we met in a park on a sunny afternoon in Seoul last month, she reminisced about listening to radio broadcasts with her mum as a child. She got hold of her first K-drama when she was 10. Years later she learnt that USB sticks and SD cards were being smuggled into the country inside boxes of fruit. The more she watched, the more she realised the government was lying to her. "I used to think it was normal that the state restricted us so much. I thought other countries lived with this control," she explains. "But then I realised it was only in North Korea." Almost everyone she knew there watched South Korean TV shows and films. She and her friends would swap their USBs. "We talked about the popular dramas and actors, and the K-pop idols we thought were good looking, like certain members of BTS. "We'd also talk about how South Korea's economy was so developed; we just couldn't criticise the North Korean regime outright." The shows also influenced how she and her friends talked and dressed, she adds. "North Korea's youth has changed rapidly." Kim Jong Un, all too aware of this risk to his regime, is fighting back. During the pandemic, he built new electric fences along the border with China, making it more difficult for information to be smuggled in. And new laws introduced from 2020 have increased the punishments for people who are caught consuming and sharing foreign media. One stated that those who distribute the content could be imprisoned or executed. This has had a chilling effect. "This media used to be available to buy in markets, people would openly sell it, but now you can only get it from people you trust," says Mr Lee. After the crackdown began Ms Kang and her friends became more cautious too. "We don't talk to each other about this anymore, unless we're really close, and even then we're much more secretive," she admits. She says she is aware of more young people being executed for being caught with South Korean content. Recently Kim has also cracked down on behaviour that could be associated with watching K-dramas. In 2023 he made it a crime for people to use South Korean phrases or speak in a South Korean accent. Members of 'youth crackdown squads', patrol the streets, tasked with monitoring young people's behaviour. Ms Kang recalls being stopped more often, before she escaped, and reprimanded for dressing and styling her hair like a South Korean. The squads would confiscate her phone and read her text messages, she adds, to make sure she had not used any South Korean terms. In late 2024, a North Korean mobile phone was smuggled out of the country by Daily NK, (Seoul-based media organisation UMG's news service). The phone had been programmed so that when a South Korean variant of a word is entered, it automatically vanishes, replaced with the North Korean equivalent - an Orwellian move. "Smartphones are now part and parcel of the way North Korea tries to indoctrinate people", says Mr Williams. Following all these crackdown measures, he believes North Korea is now "starting to gain the upper hand" in this information war. Following Donald Trump's return to the White House earlier this year, funds were severed to a number of of aid organisations, including some working to inform North Koreans. He also suspended funds to two federally financed news services, Radio Free Asia and Voice of America (VOA), which had been broadcasting nightly into North Korea. Trump accused VOA of being "radical" and anti-Trump", while the White House said the move would "ensure taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda". But Steve Herman, a former VOA bureau chief based in Seoul, argues: "This was one of the very few windows into the world the North Korean people had, and it has gone silent with no explanation." Xi's real test is not Trump's trade war Channel migrants: The real reason so many are fleeing Vietnam for the UK Syrians have more freedom after Assad, but could they soon lose it? UMG is still waiting to find out whether their funding will be permanently cut. Mr Park from Liberty in North Korea argues Trump has "incidentally" given Kim a helping hand, and calls the move "short-sighted". He argues that North Korea, with its expanding collection of nuclear weapons, poses a major security threat - and that given sanctions, diplomacy and military pressure have failed to convince Kim to denuclearise, information is the best remaining weapon. "We're not just trying to contain the threat of North Korea, we're trying to solve it," he argues. "To do that you need to change the nature of the country. "If I was an American general I'd be saying 'how much does this stuff cost, and actually that's a pretty good use of our resources'". The question that remains is, who should fund this work. Some question why it has fallen almost entirely to the US. One solution could be for South Korea to foot the bill - but the issue of North Korea is heavily politicised here. The liberal opposition party tends to try to improve relations with Pyongyang, meaning funding information warfare is a no go. The party's frontrunner in next week's presidential election has already indicated he would turn off the loudspeakers if elected. Yet Mr Park remains hopeful. "The good thing is that the North Korean government can't go into people's heads and take out the information that's been building for years," he points out. And as technologies develop, he is confident that spreading information will get easier. "In the long run I really believe this is going to be the thing that changes North Korea". Top image credit: Getty BBC InDepth is the home on the website and app for the best analysis, with fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions and deep reporting on the biggest issues of the day. And we showcase thought-provoking content from across BBC Sounds and iPlayer too. You can send us your feedback on the InDepth section by clicking on the button below.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Kim Jong Un's North Korea Infiltrates US Remote Jobs With The Help Of Everyday Americans, Funneling $17 Million Through 'Laptop Farm' Run By Unwitting TikToker: Report
Kim Jong Un's North Korea is secretly infiltrating American businesses via remote jobs, with the help of unwitting U.S. citizens. Christina Chapman, a Minnesota woman whose home functioned as a hub for foreign operatives posing as American IT workers, helped funnel millions into North Korea's economy while jeopardizing U.S. data security. What Happened: Christina Chapman, a 50-year-old former waitress turned TikTok personality, established what authorities call a "laptop farm" in her home, according to The Wall Street Journal. She had several laptops connected to remote access software, allowing North Korean workers overseas to pose as U.S.-based tech employees. They secured jobs at more than 300 American companies, collecting $17.1 million in pay. Don't Miss: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — this is your last chance to become an investor for $0.80 per share. Nancy Pelosi Invested $5 Million In An AI Company Last Year — Here's How You Can Invest In Multiple Pre-IPO AI Startups With Just $1,000. Many companies, unaware of the scam, sent paychecks and devices to Chapman's address. She handled paperwork, assisted with job applications, and forwarded pay after taking a cut. Authorities say she shipped almost 50 devices abroad and helped create false tax records for more than 35 people. Why It Matters: With international sanctions affecting funding sources, North Koreans are turning to unconventional methods. As per blockchain firm Chainalysis, North Korean hackers have stolen $6 billion in cryptocurrency. Laptop farming is the latest tactic enabling the regime to manipulate the gig economy and draw salaries from unsuspecting businesses. "That's a material percentage of their economy," observed Gregory Austin, a section chief at the FBI. Adam Meyers, a senior vice president at cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, said this is becoming a significant issue for employers who depend on remote workforces. CrowdStrike has identified almost 150 cases of North Korean workers invading customer systems, and farms have been located in at least eight U.S. states. "These DPRK IT workers are absolutely able to hold down jobs that pay in the low six figures in U.S. companies and sometimes they can hold multiple of these jobs," Austin added. Chapman was contacted on LinkedIn with an offer to "be the U.S. face" of a firm that managed overseas IT talent. As per court records, there is no indication that she was aware of the North Korean connection. The FBI raided her home in October 2023 and seized more than 90 devices. In February, she pleaded guilty to several federal charges including identity theft and money laundering. She earned around $177,000 from the operation, and now faces over nine years in prison. Her sentencing is scheduled for July 16. Read Next: Hasbro, MGM, and Skechers trust this AI marketing firm — Invest before it's too late. 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. You can invest today for just $0.30/share with a $1000 minimum. Image via Shutterstock Send To MSN: Send to MSN Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article Kim Jong Un's North Korea Infiltrates US Remote Jobs With The Help Of Everyday Americans, Funneling $17 Million Through 'Laptop Farm' Run By Unwitting TikToker: Report originally appeared on Sign in to access your portfolio
France 24
14 hours ago
- Politics
- France 24
North Korean defectors struggle to adapt to new life in South Korea
12:26 Every year, North Koreans risk their lives trying to escape the regime in Pyongyang. For those who do manage to flee, neighbouring South Korea is the obvious destination. More than 34,000 North Korean defectors have entered the country since 1953. But they still find it difficult to adapt to life in a nation so geographically close to their own, yet so different. FRANCE 24's Chloé Borgnon and William de Tamaris report.
New York Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
For the truth about ‘socialist utopia' dreams, ask a North Korean
Bizarrely, 62% of young Americans hold a 'favorable view' of socialism. How can they be so ignorant? Socialism has been tried by lots of countries. It's failed. It always fails. China prospered somewhat only after it legalized some private enterprise. Perhaps today's kids are ignorant because they're too young to remember the fall of the Soviet Union. They should look at North Korea — the ultimate 'socialist utopia.' I recently interviewed Charles Ryu, who escaped North Korea and made it to China. 'It felt like getting into a time machine and fast forwarding 50 years . . . 24-hour running electricity . . . All the food that I can eat . . . It was life-changing.' 'We Americans think of China as a surveillance state,' I point out, 'They'll punish you if you say the wrong thing. But for you, it was freedom?' '[The] Chinese government does watch your every move . . . But in North Korea, it's 100 times worse.' He says North Koreans are so isolated that they believe even absurd propaganda. Ryu was taught that '[Dictator] Kim Jong Il . . . got mad when he learned what Japan had done to North Korea. He grabbed a calligraphy pen . . . and painted over Japan. As soon as he did, Japan started getting hurricanes and storms . . . [We believed he was] some sort of God.' Ryu's time in China was short-lived. Someone told the Chinese officials that he was North Korean. China sent him back. North Korea then punished him for escaping. 'I was beaten . . . fed only 150 kernels of corn. One morning I was marching . . . I saw dry vomit on the road and was so hungry that I got on my hands and knees and began picking the rice out of the dry vomit.' 'I didn't stop . . . until the beating from the guards was too unbearable.' Nine months later, he was freed from prison labor because 'I lost so much weight that I was a worthless worker.' Eventually Ryu escaped again, sneaking past guards into the Yalu River. 'I carried a bucket pretending that I was getting water. As soon as nobody was looking, I quietly waded in.' 'In the middle of the river, I slipped on a rock and I let out a gasp. A flood of light was on my back.' 'The guard was screaming at me to turn back. He said that he would shoot me if I didn't turn back, but at that point, I knew I was dead either way . . . and I kept [pushing] ahead.' This time when he made it to China, Ryu avoided capture. He found a broker who secured him passage to Thailand, where UN officials granted him political asylum. Then they sent him to safety in America. Today, Ryu uses his experiences to try to educate Americans about North Korea and the dangers of socialism. On his YouTube channel he holds a sign that reads, 'Ask a North Korean.' To Americans who praise socialism, Ryu says: 'Just go to North Korea for 10 days and you'll know how bad it is . . . You don't really know you have it good.' Ryu is only able to talk freely about his experiences in North Korea because he has no immediate family left there. Most North Koreans who escape the country cannot. 'If you talk bad about . . . the regime, that's the highest crime you can commit . . . Your entire three generations of your family will be sent to political prison camp where you will never get out.' Ryu is thrilled to be in America. Here he was able to go to school, find a job that he enjoys and marry. 'I feel like my life is complete now because all the choices that I can have . . . I [can] travel anywhere I want . . . eat whatever I want . . . do whatever I want in America — a capitalist country. In North Korea, that's not possible.' I'm glad I live in America. I can freely criticize our government. At least, so far. John Stossel is the author of 'Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media.'
Mint
3 days ago
- Business
- Mint
North Korea infiltrates US remote jobs—with the help of everyday Americans
Christina Chapman looked the part of an everyday American trying to make a name for herself in hustle culture. In prolific posts on her TikTok account, which grew to more than 100,000 followers, she talked about her busy life working from home with clients in the computer business and the fantasy book she had started writing. She posted about liberal political causes, her meals and her travels to see her favorite Japanese pop band. Yet in reality the 50-year-old was the operator of a 'laptop farm," filling her home with computers that allowed North Koreans to take jobs as U.S. tech workers and illegally collect $17.1 million in paychecks from more than 300 American companies, according to federal prosecutors. In a June 2023 video, she said she didn't have time to make her own breakfast that morning—'my clients are going crazy," she said. Then she describes the açaí bowl and piña colada smoothie she bought. As she talks, at least 10 open laptops are visible on the racks behind her, their fans audibly whirring, with more off to the side. Chapman was one of an estimated several dozen 'laptop farmers" that have popped up across the U.S. as part of a scam to infiltrate American companies and earn money for cash-strapped North Korea. People like Chapman typically operate dozens of laptops meant to be used by legitimate remote workers living in the U.S. What the employers—and often the farmers themselves—don't realize is that the workers are North Koreans living abroad but using stolen U.S. identities. Once they get a job, they coordinate with someone like Chapman who can provide some American cover—accepting deliveries of the computer, setting up the online connections and helping facilitate paychecks. Meanwhile the North Koreans log into the laptops from overseas every day through remote-access software. Chapman fell into her role after she got a request on LinkedIn to 'be the U.S. face" for a company that got jobs for overseas IT workers, according to court documents. There's no indication that she knew she was working with North Koreans. The Federal Bureau of Investigation says the scam more broadly involves thousands of North Korean workers and brings hundreds of millions of dollars a year to the country. 'That's a material percentage of their economy," said Gregory Austin, a section chief with the FBI. With international sanctions freezing money flows, North Korea has grown creative in its quest for cash. North Korean hackers have stolen more than $6 billion in cryptocurrency, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. With laptop farming, they have flipped the gig economy on its head and found ingenious ways to trick companies into handing over paychecks. It's becoming a bigger problem for companies that use remote workers, said Adam Meyers, a senior vice president at CrowdStrike. The cybersecurity company recently identified about 150 cases of North Korean workers on customer networks, and has identified laptop farms in at least eight states. The workers, typically technology specialists, are trained in North Korea's technical education programs. Some stay in North Korea while others fan out to countries like China or Russia—to hide their North Korean connection and benefit from more reliable internet—before seeking their fortunes as IT workers for Western companies. Sometimes they're terrible employees and are quickly dismissed. Others last for months or even years. 'These DPRK IT workers are absolutely able to hold down jobs that pay in the low six figures in U.S. companies and sometimes they can hold multiple of these jobs," the FBI's Austin said. They work for almost any conceivable sector that uses remote labor. One cybersecurity company discovered two years ago that it had employed nine North Korean workers—all via staffing agencies, according to court documents. Two of them logged in each morning through Chapman's laptop farm. Late last year, Ryan Goldberg, an incident response manager at cybersecurity company Sygnia, got a look at a laptop that was returned to a client—a life-sciences company—after the FBI raided an East Coast laptop farm. As the MacBook booted up, he was amazed by what he saw: a series of seven custom-written programs designed to get around antivirus software and firewalls, giving the North Koreans a virtually undetectable back door into the corporate network. One program allowed them to spy on Zoom meetings. Others could be used to download sensitive data without being detected. 'The way they were employing remote control was something we'd never seen before," said Goldberg. 'They really thought outside of the box on this." But first, they need to recruit an American to open the door. The North Koreans start by sending out thousands of requests to people on job-related sites such as LinkedIn, Upwork and Fiver, investigators say. Their wide net often catches people in a time of financial need—people like Chapman, who got the LinkedIn message in March 2020. Chapman, a former waitress and massage therapist then living in a small town north of Minneapolis, had finished a coding boot camp around that time, hoping to become a web developer. It wasn't working out. On Jan. 21, 2021, she pleaded for help finding a place to live in a tearful post on TikTok. 'I live in a travel trailer. I don't have running water; I don't have a working bathroom. And now I don't have heat," she said. 'I'm really scared. I don't know what to do." Court documents say Chapman began working with the North Koreans by around October 2020 and her involvement steadily grew. By January 2023, she had moved to Arizona and was earning enough income to move into a four-bedroom home that she shared with a roommate in Phoenix, with a yard for her chihuahuas, including Henry, Serenity and Bearito. Chapman was a jack-of-all-trades for her 'clients." She'd help send their falsified W-2 tax forms or other verification documents when they got hired. The workers had their company laptops sent to her address. She'd unpack them, install remote access software and power them on for the North Koreans to log on. She made sure connections ran smoothly and helped troubleshoot any issues. Sticky notes on the computers identified the company and the worker they were supposed to belong to. In April 2022, a worker who had just been hired as an American, using the screen name 'Max," messaged Chapman about an I-9 form, used to establish an employee's eligibility for work in the U.S. 'Please ship out the hand signed I-9 form by the end of the day," he wrote. 'The company send message again. Could you please help me today?" 'Yes. I'll get it out today," Chapman wrote. 'I did my best to copy your signature." 'haha. Thank you," he replied. The devices didn't always stay at her house. She shipped 49 laptops, tablets and other computers overseas, many to Dandong, a Chinese city on the border with North Korea. She sometimes received paychecks at her house, signed them and deposited them to her bank, and then forwarded the funds to another account after taking a cut, according to court documents. One of the North Koreans' most remarkable feats is the way they leverage gig workers to get around almost any controls corporations can put up to detect them. 'They realized it's really easy to hire people to do anything," said Taylor Monahan, a security researcher with the crypto company MetaMask who is part of a tightknit community of investigators that studies North Korean teleworkers. 'They just know the system that well." Beyond laptop farms, they hire U.S. proxies to simply provide a mailing address to receive packages or paychecks, or to hand over their own identification to the North Koreans. Others will pass 'liveness checks"—pretending to be the actual employee every time the employer needs them to turn a camera on. They hire people to create legitimate accounts on freelance platforms that are then handed over to the North Koreans. At one point, North Koreans were using generative artificial intelligence to alter their appearance during online job interviews. But when interviewers figured out an easy way to detect it—ask interviewees to wave their hand in front of their face, a move that causes the AI software to glitch—the North Koreans started hiring tech-savvy people to ace the interviews, Monahan said. The scam also creates problems for unsuspecting Americans whose personal information gets stolen to obtain jobs, said Meyers of CrowdStrike. Typically the North Koreans take the minimum amount of tax deductions, leaving the person whose identity they stole with a tax liability, he said. Chapman's laptop farm 'created false tax liabilities for more than 35 U.S. persons," prosecutors said in court documents. For companies employing the North Koreans, their data is at risk—and the workers Chapman helped were able to get jobs at 'a top-5 national television network and media company, a premier Silicon Valley technology company, an aerospace and defense manufacturer, an iconic American car manufacturer, a high-end retail chain, and one of the most recognizable media and entertainment companies in the world," according to her indictment. Chapman helped one worker, 'Marcus," set up for a remote job he'd obtained at a 'classic American clothing brand headquartered in California" through an IT staffing agency. Six months into his job, Marcus was downloading data from his employer and sending it off to a computer in Nigeria. Chapman's posts on TikTok ramped up in 2023. She described her work life in one, saying she's had another busy morning. 'I start at 5:30, go straight to my office, which is the next door away from my bedroom, and I start taking care of my clients. Computer business," she said. 'It's now almost noon and I'm just now getting to eat." In another post that May, she unboxed a $72 green ring in her backyard. 'This is my first jewelry I've ever purchased with care instructions," she said. That night she and her roommate went out to see a drunken Shakespeare performance, where the players are inebriated. In August she traveled to Canada and Japan to see her favorite Japanese boy band. That same month, she messaged with several overseas workers about their I-9 forms. 'In the future, I hope you guys can find other people to do your physical I9s. These are federal documents. I will SEND them for you, but have someone else do the paperwork. I can go to FEDERAL PRISON for falsifying federal documents," she wrote, according to her indictment. The North Koreans deemed Chapman so helpful that two months later, when they grew frustrated with another alleged laptop farm operator in Virginia, they asked that its operator ship the device to her home. On Oct. 27, 2023, the FBI raided Chapman's laptop farm and found more than 90 computers. Her secret hustle was over. In December, she was nearly out of money. She was facing serious federal charges, but she glossed things over for her 'lovelies," the name she gave her followers on TikTok. 'I lost my job at the end of October and didn't get paid for that last month," she said. 'Even though I have been applying to at least three to four jobs every day, I haven't found anything yet." As the months dragged on, she tried selling coloring books on Amazon. She opened an Etsy shop. She started a GoFundMe to drum up rent money. In August 2024, she moved into a homeless shelter in Phoenix. 'I will be back soon," she said in her last TikTok, posted in October. 'It's been a hell of a roller coaster." She continues to live at a shelter, her lawyer said. This February she pleaded guilty to wire fraud, identity theft and money laundering charges. Her total earnings amounted to just under $177,000. Under the terms of her plea agreement, she faces a maximum of just over nine years in prison. She is set to be sentenced on July 16. Write to Robert McMillan at and Dustin Volz at
