A video of a job interview revealing a man to be a fake IT engineer from North Korea has gone viral. How was he identified as a North Korean agent?

In recent years, numerous cases have been reported of North Korean agents infiltrating Western IT companies as freelancers, stealing and misusing classified information, or using that information to extort ransoms. While Western IT companies are apprehensive about the possibility of hiring North Korean agents, a video of a job interview has gone viral, showing how a certain question asked during the interview prevented the hiring of a North Korean agent.

Watch this video of how a job interviewer exposes a North Korean fake IT worker | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/06/watch-this-video-of-how-a-job-interviewer-exposes-a-north-korean-fake-it-worker/

Numerous cases of North Korean agents infiltrating Western IT companies have been reported, and many of these are summarized in the following article.

North Korea's agents, who have used AI to infiltrate companies, are contributing approximately 150 billion yen to the country - GIGAZINE

And in the open-source software development community, there was a discussion about how to handle code written by North Korean developers, and the following video was posted on X.

Here is a video of a North Korean IT worker being stopped dead in their tracks upon being required to insult Kim Jong Un.

It won't work forever, but right now it's genuinely an effective filter. I'm yet to come across one who can say it. https://t.co/8FFVPxNm8X pic.twitter.com/KXI5efMo5L

— tanuki42 (@tanuki42_) April 6, 2026

The applicant in question used the Japanese-sounding name 'Ikuchi Taro,' and had X, LinkedIn, and GitHub accounts under the same name, as well as a portfolio website . However, at the time of writing, the X and LinkedIn accounts have been deleted.

Taro Aikuchi responded to the interview with a cheerful smile. However, the interviewer instructed him to say, 'Kim Jong Un is a fat, ugly pig,' citing the recent increase in North Korean agents. At this, the smile vanished from Taro Aikuchi's face, and he suddenly became speechless.

Ultimately, the connection was lost midway through the interview, and the interview ended prematurely.

Actually, there was a reason why the interviewer became suspicious of Aikuchi Taro. The interview mentioned above was his second. In the first interview, the topic of North Korean security came up, and Aikuchi Taro said, 'I know North Korea well.' At that point, the interviewer asked, 'Can you say 'Kim Jong-un is a bastard'?' using the F-word, at which point a connection problem suddenly occurred.

The clip I posted was actually round 2. Here's round 1 - I tell Taro I'm a North Korea security researcher, he tells me he 'knows North Korea well'. Mysterious connection issues when I say 'Fuck Kim Jong Un', which he apologies for on reconnecting.???? pic.twitter.com/M89KDDmASW

— tanuki42 (@tanuki42_) April 6, 2026

However, the IT news site TechCrunch states, 'It's important to note that this method isn't always effective. Some fake North Korean IT professionals, especially those living in China or Russia, may not be under the same strict surveillance as hackers in North Korea itself, so these tactics aren't always effective.'