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North Korean IT workers have infiltrated the Fortune 500

(www.yahoo.com)
145 points cwwc | 3 comments | 08 Apr 25 00:47 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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throwaway2037 ◴[08 Apr 25 03:58 UTC] No.43618229[source]▶
This part is genius:

    > Nowadays, Leggio told Fortune he won’t even set up an interview with a candidate who seems promising on paper unless they agree to one final step.

    “Say something negative about Kim Jong Un,” Leggio tells potential job candidates, referring to the third-generation authoritarian Supreme Leader of North Korea, officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Through research, Leggio learned insulting the DPRK’s Supreme Leader is forbidden, and North Korean citizens could face serious punishment for showing anything less than reverence.

    “The first time I ever did it, the person started freaking out and cursing,” said Leggio.

    The job seeker subsequently blocked Leggio across all social media platforms. Now Leggio makes the same request before every single interview. Other startups and founders he knows are asking the same thing of job seekers, he said.
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1. rdtsc ◴[08 Apr 25 04:13 UTC] No.43618288[source]▶
I love it. That’s genius. Though I wonder if they’d be a special exception: You can talk bad about Kim if American Evil Capitalists force you as long as you get in and bring in the dough.

I am afraid they are a lot more cynical than we give them credit, though.

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2. bee_rider ◴[08 Apr 25 04:34 UTC] No.43618381[source]▶
I wonder how effective the propaganda apparatus in inside North Korea really. And also… I wonder if there’s a bit of a gap of stuff that is, like, not something that a westerner would be aware of.

Like if the person says “the carrot harvest was terrible last year and the uniforms are very itchy, it’s like he’s correctly but annoyingly prioritizing other things” they might be a spy.

I mean that is a silly example but you get the idea hopefully.

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3. rdtsc ◴[08 Apr 25 06:35 UTC] No.43618923[source]▶
> I wonder how effective the propaganda apparatus in inside North Korea really.

Elites I am guessing can probably afford to be a bit cynical in private. And people interviewing at these companies are probably closer to being elites than peasants. But if they are monitored, showing any dislike or disloyalty in public is probably not something they can risk. Even if it means tricking the “dirty American capitalists”. There would have to be an unofficial nod from above “you can do it, just don’t overdoit”. Say “the harvest was bad” but say nothing about the uniform being itchy. Our dear leader sowed them with his own hands!