'North Korea turns to gold farming for cash'

Screenshot from massively-multiplayer online game Lineage II. Picture: NC Interactive Source: Supplied

SOMEWHERE in North Korea, a secret agency is sending video game hackers out into the world to fill the coffers of Kim Jong-Il with digital gold.

Or at least, that's what South Korea says.

The New York Times this week reported claims that the North Korean leader has been raising millions of dollars by duping massively popular South Korean internet games.

South Korean police told the newspaper they had arrested five men creating software to autonomously "gold farm" in games including Lineage and Dungeon and Fighter.

"Gold farming" is a practice whereby players save large amounts of in-game currency and equipment to sell to other players for real-world money.

The South Korean police told the Times the squad had earned up to $US6 million over two years working from Northern China and that some of the money had been forwarded to agents in Pyongyang.

Source: http://www.news.com.au/technology/north-korea-turns-to-gold-farming-for-cash039/story-e6frfro0-1226112151128?from=public_rss

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