Kim Jong Il and Rupert Murdoch. Maybe it's a marriage made in heaven, unless you're a software developer looking for a job here in the United States. Bloomberg reports that Murdoch's News Corp hires North Korean developers to create mobile phone games.
Programmers from North Korea’s General Federation of Science and Technology developed a 2007 mobile-phone bowling game based on the 1998 film, as well as “Men in Black: Alien Assault,” according to two executives at Nosotek Joint Venture Company, which markets software from North Korea for foreign clients. Both games were published by a unit of News Corp., the New York-based media company, a spokeswoman for the unit said.
My first thought: Is that even legal? Well, yes, it is.
They represent a growing software industry championed by Kim that is boosting the economy of one of the poorest countries in the world and raising the technological skills of workers. Contracting with North Korean companies is legal under United Nations sanctions unless they are linked to the arms trade.
The humanitarian part of me argues that with the rampant poverty in North Korea, I shouldn't begrudge them getting income for game development. But the suspicious side speaks louder, reminding me that no family living in poverty will see any of that News Corp funding, because Kim is a brutal and greedy dictator. Lest we forget, it was North Korean hackers who attacked government and media networks in 2009, likely with the blessing of that same dictator.
More:
http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/rupert-murdochs-news-corp-funds-north-korea
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