N Korea made millions from remote work scheme, US says
www.bbc.com
Fourteen North Koreans have been charged with fraud in the US over the long-running conspiracy

A federal court in St Louis has indicted 14 North Koreans for allegedly being part of a long-running conspiracy aimed at extorting funds from US companies and funneling money to Pyongyang’s weapons programmes.

The wider scheme allegedly involves thousands of North Korean IT workers who use false, stolen, and borrowed identities from people in the US and other countries to get hired and work remotely for US firms.

The indictement says the defendants and others working with them generated at least $88m (£51.5m) for the North Korean regime over a six-year period.

[…]

The prosecutors say the suspects worked for two North Korean-controlled companies - China-based Yanbian Silverstar and Russia-based Volasys Silverstar.

[…]

  •  t3rmit3   ( @t3rmit3@beehaw.org ) 
    5·
    10 months ago

    I don’t think anyone is disputing that they shouldn’t be stealing identities, but are they in fact doing the work they’re being paid for? That’s just called having a job. It’s not like the US government isn’t using tax money to fund its continued arms development, including nukes.

    These people didn’t work to earn money their families, they worked for the regime

    Given that in North Korea military jobs are the most stable ways to provide for your family, I’d say both are likely true.

      •  t3rmit3   ( @t3rmit3@beehaw.org ) 
        3·
        10 months ago

        I don’t particularly feel sympathy for those who feel it is justified and righteous to join such an endeavour such as its military for the same of ‘feeding families’.

        In the end every horrible deed done for gain by people who have people they care for can be said to be done for ‘feeding families’ in this sense.

        This isn’t equivalent to people getting rich by doing bad stuff, this is literally people who would be starving otherwise, like many others in NK are. And doing remote tech work isn’t a “horrible deed”. You have to actually apply nuance. You can’t run to “anyone who works for the NK government for any reason is bad.” This is the same logic that Israel uses to call the Gaza Health Ministry and other civil services “combatants”.

          •  t3rmit3   ( @t3rmit3@beehaw.org ) 
            3·
            10 months ago

            In my situation it is their fight for luxury

            Then your situation is not the same. They’re not fighting for “luxury”, they are also fighting for basic sustenance.

            Frankly, I’m not going to take anyone but other North Koreans’ opinion on condemning this. We can both (clearly) converse on Beehaw without being arrested or killed. And no matter how you keep avoiding the point, doing illegal remote tech work and handing the paycheck directly to the government, is not any different than doing legal remote tech work and handing taxes directly to the government.

            Governments get money, governments build weapons.

              •  Powderhorn   ( @Powderhorn@beehaw.org ) M
                2·
                10 months ago

                I attempted to DM you, but Lemmy is not allowing this. I did not want this public, and I scanned that wall of text and understand you’re suffering. This is an incorrect forum to talk about this. Chat is the right place.

                But here’s what follows, which is admin approved:

                Reporting everything you disagree with has gotten old. You’ve been here for less than a month and account for the vast majority of reports I’ve received since the community was created in mid-2023. If you don’t like what’s going on, disengage. I’m not here to tell others to back off every time you don’t like what they have to say. You are abusing the reporting system.

                You clearly see bad faith in everything stated in this thread, when the ethos of Beehaw is to assume good faith. And crossed the line several exits back into harassing mods. That’s not a great look. Consider this a warning that if you cannot handle an online discussion, perhaps stop visiting the thread.

                I welcome and encourage you to continue participating here, but dealing with everyone who responds to you is not my role. I’m not entirely certain why you are so worked up over North Korean spies; if you have a valid reason, please share it by responding inline, not reporting everything. As it stands, you seem to have an axe to grind, which can be done somewhere else.

                I’ve seen you present thoughtful, cogent, relevant responses elsewhere here, so this is honestly baffling. I’m not going to cast aspersions, nor am I taking any action at this time, but you’ve had plenty of opportunity to show you know when to simply stop responding to others, and you’ve not chosen that route. I would suggest a different approach.