North Korea’s Hacker Army

Re:North Korea’s Hacker Army by toomanybeersies on Thursday February 08, 2018 @04:46AM (#16331173)

It's almost comical the different ways that North Korea tries to make money. Kim Jong Un is almost like a comic supervillain with his own country.

Among other things, they engage in:

* Manufacturing methamphetamine https://www.talkingdrugs.org/north-korea-increasing-crystal-...

* Fake money https://news.vice.com/article/north-koreas-counterfeit-benja...

* Counterfeit cigarettes and pharmaceuticals

* People trafficking

* A restaurant chain: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyongyang_(restaurant_chain)

* Statues for African dictators: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35569277

Their embassies are also expected to make a profit and sustain themselves, while sending money home.

The North Korean Embassy in Pakistan was suspected to be bootlegging alcohol: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-northkorea-insig...

They rent out embassy owned land for a youth hostel in Berlin: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/10/05...

They also smuggle ivory in Africa: https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/217295...

It's almost comical. The North Korean regime is completely morally bankrupt.

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Re:North Korea’s Hacker Army by closeparen on Thursday February 08, 2018 @12:53PM (#16334036)

Sanctions shut them out of the legitimate economy. Probably easiest make money in the black market for illegal goods than in the black market for goods everyone else can sell legally.

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Re:North Korea’s Hacker Army by yakitori on Thursday February 08, 2018 @02:23PM (#16334787)

That's pretty much how most countries made money. Opium wars, slave trade, etc.

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