August 11, 2011 by Vincent
North Korea Gold Farm on South Korean MMO Games
The ordinary North Koreans may not have even heard of the internet, but to Kim Jong-Il, the “Supreme Leader” of North Korea, it’s a source of revenue to the cash-strapped state, in an unusual way.
Citing the South Korean authorities, The New York Times reported that Mr. Kim’s regime had ordered a team of 30 “hackers” to set up bots for popular South Korean massively multiplayer online (MMO) games, such as Lineage and Dungeon and Fighter.
Unlike in the case of Chinese prisoners, these bots were programmed to play, or rather, gold-farm, in online games without any human input. Virtual goods and in-game currency obtained by the bots will then be sold for real money to actual gamers who are willing to spend for the sake of their game character’s progress.
To the naive, gold farming may seem to be just a way for teenagers to make some pocket-money. But to the thousands of professional gold farmers in China, or even Mr. Kim for that matter, gold farming is a lucrative way to bring in the big bucks:
In a little less than two years, the police said, the organizers made $6 million. They gave 55 percent of it to the hackers, who forwarded some of it to agents in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea.
Source: The New York Times
Alfee - August 17, 2011 @ 4:02 am
Wow, that’s a lot of money from gold farming! I guess when you put in loads of resources, it does pay off.
Vernon - August 20, 2011 @ 10:38 pm
Wow amazing. That is a very big cash money, just by using some bots to gold farm.
chloe@portable device - October 25, 2011 @ 8:46 am
Koreans are really fun of making video games. They are very innovative and as much as there weird-like looking styles, they also have their ever genius minds! Gold farming makes a lot of money huh?!
Jeremiah - November 9, 2011 @ 12:10 pm
I had never heard of gold farming prior to reading this. That is quite an income they are generating. I suppose if you have the resources to throw at it you can expect a nice return on your investment, even if it is North Korea.
سينما - January 8, 2012 @ 6:04 am
Wow amazing. That is a very big cash money, just by using some bots to gold
شات الكويت 29 - January 8, 2012 @ 6:05 am
Wow amazing. That is a very big cash money, just by using some bots to gold farm.
Doug Gene - January 15, 2012 @ 3:00 am
Wow, clever. I knew this has been going on, but thought it was only small scale operations. Interesting.
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MMOGs can enable players to cooperate and compete with each other on a large scale, and sometimes to interact meaningfully with people around the world. They include a variety of gameplay types, representing many video game genres. Thanks.
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The executive and legislative branches operate primarily at the national level, although various ministries in the executive branch also carry out local functions. Local governments are semi-autonomous, and contain executive and legislative bodies of their own. The judicial branch operates at both the national and local levels. South Korea is a constitutional democracy. Thanks.
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North Korea initially threatened to sever all ties, to completely abrogate the previous pact of non-aggression, and to expel all South Koreans from a joint industrial zone in Kaesong, but backtracked on its threats and decided to continue its ties with South Korea. But despite the continuing ties, Kaesong industrial zone has seen a large decrease in investment and manpower as a result of this military conflict. Thanks a lot.
Vivon - May 2, 2012 @ 2:04 pm
This is a really good idea in making a lot of money. Koreans are known for being gamers anyway.
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