North Korea dissidents turn to cryptocurrency to topple Kim Jong-un

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A group of North Korean dissidents is working to overthrow the government and topple leader Kim Jong-un with the help of cryptocurrency.

The group, called Cheollima Civil Defense, is selling visas to a future free North Korea. According to the South China Morning Post, would-be citizens can buy for the equivalent of 1 ETH, for one of the first 1,000 visas to be issued. The official Cheollima website, however, did not indicate the price of each visa.

A total number of 200,000 visas are expected to be issued by the group, which hopes to raise as much as $27 million selling the citizenship documents on the blockchain.

The visas can be traded in secondary markets, and there are no limits to the number of visas one individual can buy. Higher tier visas are available for those who wish to buy rights to operate commercially in a future, post-Kim North Korea.

Visas will entitle the holder to remain for 45 days in the Cheollima Civil Defense’s future state, dubbed ‘Free Joseon,’ with the first visas set to go on sale this Sunday.

The group of revolutionaries and political activists have been increasingly strident in their opposition of the North Korean regime in recent weeks. The group claimed an act of vandalism against North Korea’s embassy in Malaysia, as well as storming the country’s Spanish embassy in a stunt protest.

The group also rose to prominence through their involvement in the rescue of Kim Jong-nam’s son, Kim Han-Sol, who had been identified as being at risk of state-sponsored assassination.

The group has already raised 14 BTC, while ETH donations are yet to get off the mark, ahead of the visa sale which gets underway early next week. The preference for BTC and ETH comes from the group’s concerns about concealing their identity.

According to a note on their website, identifying even one member of the team could put their lives at risk. The group explained, “The identification of even a single member could lead to the identities of others. Several of us have already escaped their attempts on our lives and that of our families. Many of our compatriots and their relatives have not been as fortunate. And any left surviving in concentration camps would surely face execution if the identities of their family members were dissidents were made known.”