Media: Kim Jong-un recruits primary school children as cyber warriors Photo

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is reportedly grooming primary school-aged children to become top hackers, an intelligence analyst has revealed, citing the regime's strategic approach to cyber warfare.

Michael Barnhart, a North Korea analyst at Google Threat Intelligence Group, told The Sun that the regime has a “systematic process” for developing cyber expertise, beginning as early as primary school, Caliber.Az reports. 

Bright students, particularly those excelling in science and mathematics, are recruited into a “pyramid-like prodigy system,” where they are trained for future roles as cyber operatives.

Once selected, the children are sent abroad to China or Russia for a year, gaining practical hacking and technical skills while being exposed to the global Internet. This training is crucial, as North Korea restricts general Internet access, with most citizens only able to use a tightly controlled intranet, Kwangmyong, which features heavily censored content.

Upon returning to North Korea, these young recruits are deployed into various cyber warfare units, serving as "cyber warriors" for the state. Barnhart stressed that the regime closely monitors the loyalty of these individuals throughout their training and vetting process.

The regime offers various incentives to retain these hackers, including housing upgrades for their families and guaranteed relocation to the capital, Pyongyang. Graduates are also given food subsidies and stipends during international deployments, with some hackers even allowed to live abroad.

This covert operation is seen as part of North Korea’s broader efforts to expand its cyber capabilities, illustrated by the recent $1.2 billion heist by the Lazarus Group—an infamous hacking collective linked to the regime. The Lazarus Group has been implicated in some of the most high-profile cyberattacks, including the largest cryptocurrency theft in history, in which hackers seized funds from an Ethereum wallet.

Barnhart noted that North Korea’s commitment to cultivating elite hackers from an early age signals the regime’s ongoing dedication to its cyber warfare agenda, while defector Kim Heung-kwang emphasised that the hackers’ loyalty is reinforced by the high-status life they are afforded.

By Aghakazim Guliyev