Korean April 26 Animation Studio () is a state-owned North Korean animation studio, based in Ot'an-dong, Central District, Pyongyang. History The studio started operations in September 1957, as 4.26 Children's Film Studio (4.26아동영화촬영소). SEK Studio worked with foreign animators and companies with relative frequency for a North Korean operation throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Around 1985, it began to outsource animation for European television It has also done subcontracting work on over 250 foreign animations. They mainly worked on subcontracting Russian, Italian, French, Spanish and Chinese animation, with American animation being outsourced in an indirect way. SEK has done work on several animated series with Mondo TV, including Pocahontas: Princess of the American Indians and Simba the King Lion, (due to this two, it has been repeatedly misinformed that SEK has worked for The Walt Disney Company). SEK also has produced features such as the French science fiction epic Gandahar (The Light Years) and Empress Chung. It was registered as the SEK Studio which stands for Scientific Educational Korea in 1997 in order to take part at an animation festival in France. According to Cinemaweb, "The Simpsons Movie was the most prominent US project that SEK helped with", while other "projects" the studio was involved with were "Futurama: Bender's Big Score and even an episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender." According to the Korean Film Council, SEK Studio outsourced episode 72 of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 TV series). Recently, international collaborations between SEK Studio and other nations has declined significantly, with only China co-producing content. This can largely be attributed to rising tensions between North Korea and the Western Community, notably the United States. SEK Studio participated in "Shijiazhuang International Animation Exhibition" on September 30, 2014. SEK Studio is expected to introduce a new science fiction genre animation. Since 2010s, SEK studio has contracted with many animation studios in China and outsourced in Chinese TV series, web animations, game graphics and commercials. SEK is currently pursuing large-scale projects with Chinese animation companies. It relates to web animated series that will be produced in China. According to The Pyongyang Times, the studio helps children develop judgement, thinking and reasoning skills, and the studio contributes to the intellectual and ideological education of the people, rejecting the creation of cartoons for purely amusement. In December 2021, the US Treasury accused SEK Studio and companies and individuals related to it, of exploiting