North Korean Government is Gold Farming

Well now, it looks like the North Korean government has organized a squad of hackers to farm and sell virtual goods from MMOs:

These hackers allegedly devised software to automatically play popular MMOs such as Lineage and Dungeon and Fighter (known in the U.S. simply as Dungeon Fighter). The group then sold this software so players can easily obtain gold and other virtual items for their online avatars, reports the Financial Times.

According to South Korean police, the organizers of the operation have accumulated over $6 million, and the NY Times reports that each member of the group was required to send $500 per month to the Pyongyang government.

The NY Times reports that other evidence also links the group to a Communist Party agency known as Office 39, which collects money for the North Korean government via drug trafficking, counterfeiting, arms sales, and other illicit activities.