2mo ago

North Korea sent me abroad to be a secret IT worker. My wages funded the regime

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2mo ago

North Korea sent me abroad to be a secret IT worker. My wages funded the regime

www.bbc.com /news/articles/c15wk77zxngo

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2mo ago

North Korea sent me abroad to be a secret IT worker. My wages funded the regime

www.bbc.com /news/articles/c15wk77zxngo

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2mo ago

North Korea sent me abroad to be a secret IT worker. My wages funded the regime

www.bbc.com /news/articles/c15wk77zxngo

32 comments

They need to disguise their nationality not just because they can get paid more by impersonating Westerners, but due to the extensive international sanctions North Korea is under
🤔
- I don't get it, why the inquisitive fave?
  
  I just see people calling this a scam so much when sometimes it's literally just people getting a job when they're not allowed to be paid. That paired with "they pretend to be westerners so they can get paid more" like well why is it that westerners get paid more than Asians? Just a real interesting quote.
No one knew he was an IT worker.
How many forensic scientists did it take to work that one out? 😂
I dont understand one thing, if North Korea does not even have good computers how do they train their agents?
- No need for good computers to train agents. They don't need to play crysis to train as hackers. Something on the level of a Pi (or more accurately of a 2010 laptop) is good enough.
- Didn't they get a lot of computer hardware from Russia recently?
The BBC cannot independently verify the specifics of Jin-su's testimony, but through PSCORE, an organisation which advocates for North Korean human rights, we've read testimony from another IT worker who defected that supports Jin-su's claims.
Oh. Ok. You'd think he can prove something with like a pay stub, at minimum. But I guess the standard of proof when reporting on N Korea is "an anti-n korea org also said so." I was genuinely interested in this article until that line.
- ml and their daydream of a perfect NK is hilarious to see in the wild.
  
  You can have healthy skepticism without jumping to the other end of the spectrum of DPRK stan.
  
  You're not addressing the fact that BBC admits they didn't/couldn't substantiate his claims, which apparently is no problem for your own journalistic standards.
- an anti-n korea org
  No, an organization that advocates for North Korean human rights. That's a pro-north korea org.
  You gonna tell me that people who have a problem with Pol Pot are "Anti-Cambodian", Mr ".ml"?
  
  Tankies just aren't serious people.
- Wait... you're doubtful because it's coming from a anti-NK instance? A pay stub is just going to show he worked. He could have bought and sent bitcoin or done so with cash drop offs. Why does this story magically no longer become interesting because of a group that helps defected NKs?
  
  Why does this story magically no longer become interesting because of a group that helps defected NKs?
  There is nothing magic about it. The organization that's cited isn't the problem. The problem is the BBC cites that org as proof that this person's claims are true. But neither that org nor the BBC have said, "we have corroborated Jin-su's story." On the contrary, the BBC just admits they didn't or couldn't corroborate the story themselves. So in my mind I may as well have read this article on any rando's blog post, or in the NYT in 2001 under a Judith Miller byline. It lacks credence.
  I wouldn't have had anything to say if BBC said that they reviewed some documents that showed Jin-su's claim. Maybe a few of the "hundreds" of fake IDs that he used, for example. But instead they just read another testimony from PSCORE. Was that other testimony verified? They don't bother explaining. So they just use an unverified testimony from PSCORE and pass that off to make the reader believe that that's good enough in place of actually verifying Jin-su's testimony!
  
  It's no longer interesting because it's probably bullshit - which is par for the course for these CIA cutouts. These are the same groups that push absurd ideas about state-mandated haircuts, Kim Jong Un dying, that Kim Jong Un executed his ex, that North Korea banned sarcasm, that Kim Jong Il claims he once shot 11 straight holes in one, etc... these pieces get absolutely eaten up by western liberals who, in the next breath, will call citizens of the DPRK the most propagandized on earth.
- There are also reports by companies and american judiciary system. Now, those are biased voices too, they lack clear proof of what happened, and they probably make it bigger than it is, but i find it unlikely that this is 100% bs and staging : if i had that much resources to pour into staging something, i think it would be more convincing.
  
  I'm not doubting the N Korean scheme to infiltrate IT jobs. There's even that woman who was prosecuted (I think she lived in Arizona?) because she is one person who acted as a facilitator for this scheme. My point is the BBC ran a story with an "anonymous" source then admits in the middle that they couldn't substantiate any of the claims. That's the problem here.

32 comments