Invincible animation being outsourced to North Korea might seem like a dumb rumor, but that’s not the case. North Korean watchdog 38 North released a report showing that an animation studio based in that country had worked on at least two Western projects. There are several reasons that this is controversial, which we’ll explain below.
Was Invincible animated by a studio in North Korea
The report connecting Invincible to North Korea by 38 North stated that the files in question had been found on an unsecured North Korean server. From what was found, North Korea’s April 26 Animation Studio (aka SEK Studio) produced at least part of the third season. However, it’s unlikely the entirety of the animation was made there.
There also was no evidence pointing to Skybound Entertainment knowing that any work on Invincible was being done in North Korea. Instead, it appears that some of the animation ended up being subcontracted to a Chinese front, which outsourced the animation to SEK Studio. Many of the files found had notes that were translated from English to Chinese to Korean, showing they changed hands several times before ending up on SEK Studios’ servers.
In a statement to CNN, Skybound Entertainment stated that it didn’t contract with Chinese or North Korean companies and had no knowledge of companies based in those countries working on Invincible. Skybound will conduct an internal investigation to determine how this issue occurred.
Why does it matter if a North Korean studio worked on Invincible?
North Korea is under sanctions from the US due to its human rights issues. According to Reuters, SEK Studios, in particular, was identified as a state-owned enterprise and made subject to sanctions. Chinese studios that were determined to have worked with SEK Studios were subject to sanctions in the past. If a US company were found to be purposefully doing so, there would be major repercussions.
