WASHINGTON, USA: The United States has announced a reward of up to $5 million for information on three North Korean IT workers and their manager who engaged in a fraudulent telework scheme using false identities.
The State Department revealed the identities of the workers, who went by the aliases Han Jiho, Jun Chunji, and Xu Haoran, along with their manager, Zhonghua. This operation reportedly generated at least $6.8 million for the North Korean regime.
From October 2020 to October 2023, Christina Chapman, a U.S. national, allegedly assisted the North Korean workers in obtaining remote employment as software and applications developers. These workers used the identities of more than 60 real U.S. citizens to secure jobs across various sectors. Additionally, they attempted but failed to gain employment with two U.S. government agencies.
Chapman is accused of helping the workers acquire valid U.S. citizen identities, hosting their issued laptops, and facilitating their daily remote connections to U.S. companies’ IT networks. She also reportedly laundered the proceeds from this scheme, receiving, processing, and distributing paychecks to the workers and other parties involved.
The State Department stated that these North Korean workers are linked to the North’s Munitions Industry Department, which is responsible for the development of ballistic missiles, weapons production, and research programs.
This reward offer is part of the State Department’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program, managed by its Diplomatic Security Service. Since its inception in 1984, the RFJ program has disbursed more than $250 million to over 125 individuals worldwide for information that helped prevent terrorism and resolve threats to U.S. national security. This includes two $5 million rewards for information that disrupted an illicit financial scheme benefiting North Korea.
The U.S. government remains committed to exposing and dismantling such schemes, which pose significant threats to national security and global stability.
