38 North, a Washington-based organization that specializes in analyzing North Korean internal and external affairs, has found evidence that animators in the region are quietly working on Western productions. 

For over a month in late 2023, the firm was able to access an internet server that wasn’t configured right—meaning anyone with a password could view its files. During this time, 38 North identified several North Korean animators who were likely working on US-based projects, in breach of international sanctions. 

These productions include season three of Invincible (pictured), an Amazon Original animated series from Skybound Entertainment and Lion Forge Entertainment; and YouNeek Studios’ anime title Iyanu, Child of Wonder for Max. Also found on the server were a Japanese anime series, video files seemingly from BBC Children’s series Octonauts, and documents referring to China’s Dalian Shepherd Animation. 

38 North suspects that state-owned April 26 Animation Studio (a.k.a. SEK Studio) is the North Korean outfit doing the animation, and also that a Chinese go-between was responsible for relaying information between production companies and the animators. The US Department of Treasury first sanctioned SEK in 2016, and then also sanctioned several of the studio’s Chinese partners in 2021 and 2022. 

Importantly, none of the evidence gathered by 38 North suggests that any Western producers knew their projects were being subcontracted to North Korean animators. Comments written in Mandarin on the files point to these deals being made quite far downstream from them. 

But these findings highlight how difficult it is for foreign companies to check that their outsourced work isn’t potentially breaking sanctions and ending up on computers in North Korea. 

US and EU sanctions prohibit most international work with North Korean companies and talent. But North Korea has a history of finding ways to secretly slip its workers into international business operations. The US government warned companies back in 2022 about hiring North Korea IT workers pretending to be US-based professionals. 

Pictured is a screenshot of a production frame from Invincible that was found on the North Korean server.