North Koreans Secretly Animated Amazon and Max Shows, Researchers Say (wired.com) 32
North Korean animators have been secretly working on major international TV shows, including an Amazon superhero series and an upcoming HBO Max children's anime, according to a report by cybersecurity researchers. The findings, detailed in a report by the Stimson Center think tank's 38 North Project and Google-owned security firm Mandiant, provide a glimpse into how North Korea can use skilled IT workers to raise funds for its heavily sanctioned regime.
Researcher Nick Roy discovered a misconfigured cloud server on a North Korean IP address in December, containing thousands of animation files, including cells, videos, and notes discussing ongoing projects. Some images appeared to be from Amazon's "Invincible" and HBO Max's "Iyanu: Child of Wonder." The server, which mysteriously stopped being used at the end of February, likely allowed work to be sent to and from North Korean animators, according to Martyn Williams, a senior fellow on the 38 North Project. U.S. sanctions prohibit companies from working with North Korean entities, but the researchers say it is unlikely that the companies involved were aware of the animators' origins. The report suggests the contracting arrangement was several steps removed from the major producers.
Researcher Nick Roy discovered a misconfigured cloud server on a North Korean IP address in December, containing thousands of animation files, including cells, videos, and notes discussing ongoing projects. Some images appeared to be from Amazon's "Invincible" and HBO Max's "Iyanu: Child of Wonder." The server, which mysteriously stopped being used at the end of February, likely allowed work to be sent to and from North Korean animators, according to Martyn Williams, a senior fellow on the 38 North Project. U.S. sanctions prohibit companies from working with North Korean entities, but the researchers say it is unlikely that the companies involved were aware of the animators' origins. The report suggests the contracting arrangement was several steps removed from the major producers.
"unlikely to know" (Score:2, Flamebait)
Sure.
It's all good though. Animators in the West are, doubtless, fully on-board with kumbaya one world goodness, so they have what their virtue insisted upon. Enjoy your subsistence level income.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Starting in the 1980s, SEK Studio began subcontracting for media companies from Italy, France, and Spain. This represented a win-win scenario for both sides. North Korea would have a relatively wholesome (compared to drug smuggling, for example) way to earn much-needed foreign cash, while Western corporations could enjoy massive cost savings due to the DPRK’s low wages. Dealing with European studios also gave SEK an opportunity to learn best practices, and even send young employees to France and Italy to study advanced animation technologies.
By the early 2000s, SEK had dealings with over 70 different European companies across hundreds of projects. Among these projects was the 1997 series Simba: The Lion King, commissioned by Italy-based Mondo TV. This series’ name may have helped spark an oft-circulated (but unverified) rumor that SEK helped animate Disney’s 1994 blockbuster The Lion King.
North Korea didn’t just collaborate with Europeans though. When liberal Kim Dae-jung ascended to South Korea’s presidency in 1998, he initiated the Sunshine Policy, calling for rapprochement and economic collaboration with the North.
As a result of the Sunshine Policy, South Korean animators began working with their Northern brethren. A prominent example of this cooperation was the children’s show Pororo the Little Penguin, which remains a cultural icon in South Korea to this day.
Subcontracted through South Korean production company Iconix, SEK animated part of Pororo’s first and second seasons between 2003 and 2005. Iconix sent technicians northwards to train SEK’s staff, though, once the technicians left, the lack of efficient communications methods eventually made collaboration too difficult to continue.
Born 1939 in North Korea’s Pyongsan County, Shin moved to South Korea at age 13 during the Korean War. After immigrating to the US and working for American animators (including on Star Wars’ lightsaber) during the 1970s, Shin returned to South Korea and founded AKOM Production—best known for animating The Simpsons.
Wanting to tell his own stories instead of animating others’, Shin decided to make Empress Chung, a feature film based on a famous Korean folk tale about a daughter who sacrifices herself to restore her father’s eyesight. While trying to get Empress Chung off the ground, Shin unexpectedly bumped into representatives of SEK Studio at an international film market. Since he was largely self-financing the project, Shin decided to work with SEK in order to save costs; it was also a poetic move for a man who’d been born in the North.
Thus, Empress Chung became the first feature-length film co-production between North and South Korea. Around 500 staff from SEK Studio handled main production, while Shin’s South Korean animators performed pre and post-production; Shin personally visited Pyongyang 18 times to supervise production.
Empress Chung opened simultaneously in North and South Korea on August 12, 2005, the 60th anniversary of the end of Japanese rule on the peninsula. Though it wasn’t a box office hit, the film represented a milestone in inter-Korean relations, and inspired Shin to further collaborate with SEK Studio. After Empress Chung, Shin and SEK went on to make an animated TV series called Warriors of the Goguryeo, inspired by the history of an ancient Korean kingdom.
At the same time, Shin’s company AKOM was still animating American projects. This is where things get interesting: drawing upon the existing relationship, one of AKOM’s interlocutors apparently subcontracted work on US films to SEK Studio.
According to DVD commentary and IMDB, 2007’s The Simpsons Movie was the most prominent US project that SEK helped with. Other projects include Futurama: Bender’s Big Score and even an episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Therefore, it’s highly possible that millions in America and beyond have unknowingly experienced the handiwork of North Korean animators.
https://www.cinemaescapist.com... [cinemaescapist.com]
AKOM (South Korea) animated the Simpsons and many other shows https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Re: "unlikely to know" (Score:2)
Aren't the animators supposed to appear in the credits? If so do the producers ever meet these guys?
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Hold on, what animator gets paid a subsistence level income? Is the studio hiring?
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Re: "unlikely to know" (Score:2)
Usually that's the kind of thing unions demand.
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So yes, it is possible the companies didn't know.
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Possibly. Many companies have ethics training that do strongly encourage one to vet ALL third party suppliers. The reason for such training is because companies can and do ignore such stuff, naively assuming they're immine from legal consequences for what a partner does. Amazon doesn't care though, it's rich, it will just buy more lawyers when the shit hits the fan. Normal companies though are usually quite aware of what they're doing with third party suppliers, partners, and contractors in order to avo
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"and notes discussing ongoing projects."
It Depends what those notes say. And if they're in the North Korean dialect.
Sanctions and penalties... (Score:4, Insightful)
...need to be brought against both the principal studios and against the subcontractors. They're not supposed to allow this to occur. If their own supply-chains are so poorly documented that this occurs on any sort of large scale then it's reasonable to pursue penalties on even if on simple negligence.
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Whoa, slow down there.
You want corporate transparency? Can't let that happen.
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And yet... corporations have screwed up and have been fined, and have (worse) lost business because of these sorts of shady business dealings.
https://www.sec.gov/enforce/se... [sec.gov]
Not just animators and sketch artists, it's us! (Score:3)
Focus on the business model. Follow the money. The problem discussed in TFA affects us in our I.T. industry in a major way, as was reported to the slashdots [slashdot.org], and the DOJ warned us about it too. [justice.gov]
This podcast [darknetdiaries.com] (with written transcript) describes how people like us with good GitHub and LinkedIn histories are impersonated, have our identities stolen, allowing North Koreans working in Russia and China to earn hard currency for the regime with which to buy weapons. Watch out for identity theft, if for no other reason to avoid tax hassles with the IRS for 'earned income' you had no knowledge about.
As far as I can tell, websites like upwork.com [darknetdiaries.com] are potential markets with North Korean developers for sale.
Any other ideas where one might hire North Koreans posing as US/EU/UK workers? Inquiring minds would like to know.
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It's true. Back in the 90’s they impersonated Jerry Seinfeld to infiltrate the writers room at the Japanese game show called Super Terrific Happy Hour. They wrote some good stuff.
Not a secret (Score:3)
This isn't a secret. There was a picture book written by an artist doing business in North Korea. In one section he describes seeing displays of art used in animation for foreign countries.
Re: Not a secret (Score:2)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik... [wikipedia.org]
By Guy Deslisle. He has also one about a chinese animation production. And a really interesting graphic novel about living as an expat in Israel. Everything he makes is worth a read. My personal favorite is Factory Summers.
Re: Not a secret (Score:1)
also liked Hostage, about the abduction of an ngo employee in the Caucasus who got chained to a radiator for 3 months.
That explains a lot (Score:1)
So that explains why now I'm seeing Sponge Kim Leader Pants, Party Guy, Kim and Morty, North Park, etc
Outsourcing to outsourced outsourcers (Score:2)
Established companies outsourcing staffing to fly-by-night companies is how many of the H1B visa program abuses came about that I've personally witnessed. The big-name company can often simply blame the obscure outsourcing firm if caught.
Having corrupt turtles all the way down is a recipe for mutant ninja crime.
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I've heard there are more slaves now than at any time in history. Of course that might not be true if normalized to a percentage of the work force; but the mere fact that it even still exists is of course awful. We've sanitized slavery by re-naming it as "convict labor" or in this case pushing it overseas and wrapping it in layers to disclaim responsibility.
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North Korean prisoners don't do animation work. These are regular employees, it's only illegal because of sanctions. They don't get paid much, but it's more than most people in their country make so they're happy with their pay. That isn't slavery any more than Victorian factories with 16 hour shifts and lax safety were slavery.
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Something similar happened in Japan a few weeks ago when several companies discovered the software contracting companies they were using were, in turn (and illegally) outsourcing to NK-based developers. Two people were arrested in Tokyo because of it.
This seems to me, at least superficially, that the contractual and legal chain of work was violated down the outsourcing line.
Someone in that chain of outsourcing is likely going to get investigated big time (for this is not limited to USA's jurisdict
Same as Driving Under the Influence... (Score:2)
When a person gets drunk and plows his car into somebody, killing them, we as a society say "You, drunk person, are NOT innocent; YOU chose to get drunk and therefore YOU are responsible for whatever bad thing YOU DID while you were drunk". We do not permit the drunk killer to say "I'm not guilty because I surrendered control, and then stuff just happened while I was blacked-out".
When a company outsources, transferring its work to some off-shore provider, NOBODY should allow the company to get away with a c
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When you're contracting out, and do not have ownership of the contracted company, your liability should absolutely be diminis
Sunshine policy (Score:1)
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So the Sunshine policy would work great if it made connection to people at lower levels, but since the North Korean government prevents that, it becomes a means to increas
It's society. (Score:2)