The South Korean government announced today that it has imposed sanctions on 15 individuals and one organization from North Korea for illegal cyber activities, including cryptocurrency theft.
South Korea Imposes Sanctions on North Korean Crypto Hackers and IT Operators
The move marks the latest effort to curb the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) increasing reliance on cybercrime to fund its regime.
According to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, the sanctioned individuals are linked to Bureau 313, a branch of the Machinery Manufacturing Industry Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea.
This unit, which the UN Security Council has imposed sanctions on since 2016, oversees North Korea’s weapons production, including its ballistic missile program.
“North Korean IT personnel are known to conceal their identities and work for global IT companies while engaging in information theft and cyberattacks,” the ministry said in a statement.
Kim Cheol-min, who was among those sanctioned, infiltrated IT companies in the US and Canada as an employee and transferred significant amounts of foreign currency to Pyongyang.
South Korea also imposed sanctions on a North Korean entity that sent IT workers abroad to generate revenue for the regime and its military operations.
North Korean hackers have been linked to some of the largest cryptocurrency thefts worldwide.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed that North Korean cyber actors were behind the theft of $308 million in crypto from Japan-based crypto firm DMM Bitcoin, which has since ceased operations.
*This is not investment advice.
