**North Koreans Pose as IT Pros to Bankroll Kim’s Nuclear Ambitions**
*By Akash Pandey | Oct 06, 2025, 11:08 am*
—
**The Story**
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), North Korean IT workers are leveraging their skills to fund Kim Jong Un’s nuclear ambitions. Thousands of North Korean men trained in information technology are stealing identities and faking resumes to secure high-paying remote tech jobs in the US and other wealthy countries. Utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), they fabricate work outputs and mask their faces and identities to evade detection.
—
**Financial Impact**
This covert scheme has targeted hundreds of Fortune 500 companies, aerospace manufacturers, and a variety of US financial institutions—from major banks to small cryptocurrency start-ups. The FBI estimates that over the past five years, this operation has generated between hundreds of millions to $1 billion for Kim’s government.
The illicit funds are believed to directly support North Korea’s goal of becoming a nuclear-armed force.
—
**Widespread Infiltration**
Beyond IT roles, North Korean operatives have infiltrated other industries by posing as Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) specialists, engineers, and architects. With the help of AI, they produce blueprints and secure municipal approvals.
This scheme isn’t limited to the US—it has also targeted companies in Europe, Saudi Arabia, and Australia.
In response, US, Japanese, and South Korean officials convened in Tokyo in late August to strengthen cooperation and counter these attacks.
—
**Risks Involved**
The infiltration poses a dual threat to companies worldwide. First, there is a security risk as foreign government agents covertly access internal systems. Second, firms face legal risks of inadvertently violating sanctions against North Korea, which could jeopardize national security interests of the US and its allies.
“This is a code red,” warned Jeanine Pirro, US Attorney for D.C., during a July press conference. “Your tech sectors are being infiltrated by North Korea.”
—
**Worker Exploitation**
It is important to note that the North Korean men engaged in these operations are also victims of the oppressive regime. They are forcibly separated from their families and sent to offshore locations to perform remote IT work. Failure to meet financial quotas for the government can result in brutal punishments, including beatings, imprisonment, threats to their loved ones, and other severe human rights abuses.
—
This ongoing crisis highlights the breadth of North Korea’s covert operations and underscores the urgent need for heightened vigilance and international cooperation.
https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/science/fake-north-korean-tech-workers-helped-fund-kim-s-nuclear-ambitions/story