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145 points cwwc | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
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throwaway_ab ◴[] No.43618350[source]
A flagged post mentions this is racist and typical anti immigration rhetoric.

That's not true, there are only two types of North Korean people you'll meet, either those that have defected and escaped North Korea or those that are agents of the state of North Korea.

There are very few defectors in existence and once they escape they're given full South Korean citizenship. This article is not about those people.

The vast majority of North Koreans outside North Korea are not defectors, instead they are controlled state assets. There are no North Korean people outside the country that are free citizens. Every single North Korean authorised to leave the country is working directly for their government often to raise money for the regime, to steal IP, to infiltrate for some nefarious purpose.

Having one of these North Korean active assets in your company is extremely dangerous, your business is now at risk of leaks, theft, or worst something being modified like added vulnerabilities that could be exploited later in cyber attacks.

So no, this article is not racist at all and really has nothing to do with the recent political situation.

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plsbenice34 ◴[] No.43618479[source]
What about Australia in comparison? Australians can be legally compelled in secret courts to install backdoors in the companies in which they are employed, and gagged from telling the company itself or any journalists (see the Access and Assistance Bill). That doesn't cross the same 'agents of the state' line?
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hhjinks ◴[] No.43618499[source]
It doesn't, because every Australian leaving Australia is not compelled to do so by said secret courts. 1 >>>>> e-100000
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1. itake ◴[] No.43618586[source]
it doesn't need to be every Australian. It only needs to be Australians that get jobs at fortune 500 companies. Australians don't even need to leave the country to be hired and compelled.
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2. roenxi ◴[] No.43618821[source]
I'm pretty sure I see where you're going there, but hhjinks' argument covers that. Even if the Aus. government makes someone an agent retroactively after hiring the odds are still much smaller that an Australian is a government agent. Because every NK citizen is assumed to be an agent, but only some Australians become agents, retroactive or otherwise.

Besides, if we wanted information about Fortune 500 companies we'd presumably ask the US intelligence services or directly infiltrate their network from an Australian office. Many of them have a pretty big attack surface from the Australian perspective.

TLDR; hire Australians.