At least seven teams of North Korean IT workers continued to work in Russia and China, says the United Nations, despite a late 2019 ban on DPRK laborers abroad. Now, the director of one Chinese company has also confirmed to NK News that he continues to employ North Koreans in Yanbian, China — well after the deadline to send them home.

Won Gil Su, an ethnic Korean Chinese national, said that he is the current director of an IT company in Yanbian that currently employs "less than 10" people. According to Won — who spoke to NK News by phone — the Chinese government "connected" him and his company to North Korean IT workers, with some still in China as recently as last week. Further investigation from NK News also shows that this company or one of its many aliases claims to have done IT work for Fox News, AOL and others.