Editor’s note: This is Part 2 of a two-part series exploring North Korea’s IT worker program through the experiences of former IT workers. For Part 1, click here.

For young North Koreans with technical skills, overseas information technology (IT) work offers something few careers in the cash-strapped country can: the prospect of earning money, seeing the world and gaining experience beyond its borders. 

Yet for those who enter the program, the reality is often far removed from the dream.

In exclusive interviews with NK Pro, three former IT workers described how their days