The Stimson Center, an American think tank, recently found a batch of documents in a North Korean abandoned server. The documents suggest that U.S. and Japanese animation studios may have outsourced drawing to illustrators and graphic designers in North Korea. These documents include the original art of the third season of the yet-to-be-released American superhero anime "The Mighty Boys", as well as one of the new episodes of Japanese animation in July 2024. The United States has imposed strict sanctions on North Korea over the North Korean nuclear issue, nearly cutting off business with North Korean entities by American companies. However, researchers at the center revealed to the media that the work was unknowingly outsourced to North Korean staff.
Abandoned server files cause an animation outsourcing incident
"The story started in late 2023 when we found a cloud storage server with a North Korean IP address. This server seems to be out of use, misconfigured. This makes the daily stream of files coming in and out of the server visible to anyone, without the need for a password. The Stimson Center wrote in this report on the "38 North" project. This misconfigured North Korean server offers a glimpse into North Korean animation outsourcing services.
According to the report, these productions that may involve outsourcing to North Korea include: the yet-to-be-released Amazon Prime Video original animated series "Invincible" Season 3, the superhero anime "Iyanu: Child of Wonder" (formerly HBO Max) on streaming Max (formerly HBO Max) in 2024, and the new "Magic Master Dalia Never Compromises" in Japan in July 2024 (魔導具師ダリヤはうつむかない)。 In addition, a file named "Cat" is included on the server, with the name of the Ekachi Epilka animation studio in Hokkaido, Japan. There is also a video file of what appears to be a BBC children's cartoon "Octonauts". However, these files have no additional identifying information and appear to be completed, so these may not be the work of the animators.
Skybound Entertainment, a California-based production company, said it does not contract with North Korean companies and is not aware of any such companies involved in the production of "Mighty Boys," but Skybound Entertainment said it would look into the research. Max declined CNN's request for comment. YouNeek Studios, based in Maryland, also did not respond to a request for comment. The American production company Lion Forge Entertainment also declined to comment. Both companies were involved in the production of Iyanu: Miracle Child.
However, CNN, citing people familiar with the matter, said that Lion Forge Entertainment had worked with an animation studio based in South Korea, but it was discovered last year that the South Korean studio had outsourced the production of "Iyanu: Miracle Child" to other South Korean companies without authorization. The South Korean studio said it outsourced its production only to other South Korean companies and not to any North Korean entity. Lion Forge Entertainment is said to have severed ties with the South Korean animation studio in January this year. As of press time, there has been no response from the Japanese animation studios involved in the incident.
Animation production as a service export industry
According to CNN, the documents were discovered by Nick Roy, a Boston-based cyber scout. Roy often observes the North Korean Internet as a hobby. After discovering the documents, Roy shared them with Martyn Williams, an expert on North Korea and a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, and analyzed them. Williams and colleagues concluded that the documents looked like a work order. "It looks like these are the underlying edits for these animations," Williams said. ”
CNN, citing North Korea experts, said the North Korean government has long favored film studios and animation as propaganda tools and a source of income. North Korea was at one point more advanced than South Korea in the post-World War II years after World War II. The main animation studio in North Korea is SEK Studio in Pyongyang. The studio was founded in the 1950s. SEK Studio has been working with various foreign companies for many years. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned SEK Studio in 2021 for its ties to the North Korean regime. "Foreign media companies continue to outsource animation work to SEK Studio due to a desire to obtain unreasonably low-cost labor," the Treasury Department said in announcing the sanctions. Williams suspects SEK Studio may have been involved in animation work on abandoned servers, citing the fact that SEK Studio is the only entity in North Korea capable of handling a project of this scale.
The Nippon TV report also confirmed the importance that North Korea attaches to the animation production industry. According to North Korean media reports, Kim Jong-un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, also visited North Korea's animation production base, and Kim Jong-un said at the time that it was necessary to modernize and computerize animation production to make North Korea one of the world's leading animation powers. Yasuhiro Takiguchi, a reporter for Nippon TV's international department, speculated that North Korea "may be hoping to develop animation as an export industry." ”
Nippon TV also showed clips of animation broadcast by North Korea's Central Television, which looked relatively old-fashioned, but it was still very much in line with the modern animation industry. This includes not only traditional 2D animation, but also animation created using 3D CG. This includes the animated "Smart Raccoon", which was produced in the 1980s. This is an anime that teaches science to children by telling the story of animals playing together and challenging themselves. In 2017, North Korea also produced and broadcast the historical animation "Gojumong" produced by 3D CG animation. Gao Zhumeng was the first generation of Goguryi monarchs, and later generations posthumously named the "Holy King of Dongming".
According to South Korean government sources, North Korea has been accepting production outsourcing from European and other foreign animation companies since the 80s of the 20th century. According to the South Korean government, "North Korea's high technology and low labor costs make it [the animation industry] internationally competitive." Takiguchi speculated: "Kim Jong-un personally visited the site and said that North Korea's goal is to become an animation power." This is because in the face of the economic downturn, North Korea wants to develop animation production as a means of obtaining foreign exchange in the future. ”
News sources: CNN, Nippon TV, Japan's "Kyoto Shimbun", Stimson Center, some pictures are from the Internet
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