Campaigners hoping to raise $10m through crowd funding to stage coup and 'help bring freedom to North Korea'

A “covert” campaign group with the intention of “freeing the people of North Korea” has taken to crowd funding to attempt to source $10 million (£6.6 million), which it estimates is the amount needed to help the country oust leader Kim Jong-un and bring democracy to its people.

The Indigogo campaign page, set up by a group called “Freedom Now” states that its first objective is to “supply involved North Korean defectors with the resources they need” to establish a communications network across the country that would help people securely pass information between each other.

The group has estimated the $10 million will cover the costs of communication technology and pro-freedom education materials, intelligence gear, travel expenses and expenses included in the logistics of establishing a communication network.

The proposed communication network could mean a hack that allows for “encrypted texting using a person’s current phone, or the distribution of digital radios with voice encryption”, before then connecting North Koreans with the outside world.

"As the North Korean people become better connected within their borders this will lead to better organisation, and with organisation comes hope."

The group’s founder is known simply as “Andrew Fox” and does not appear to have a page linking to his identity or image.

In keeping with the rewards system on crowd funding sites, the group have set out at number of rewards for donors. They range in size and value, with those donating $10 set to receive “a certificate thanking you for your service in the coup of Kim Jong-un” to being awarded the “sole ownership of all media files collected during the extent of the film project” which can be used for commercial purposes, for those who donate over a million dollars.