WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The United States sanctioned eight individuals and two entities for their role in laundering funds derived from a variety of illicit schemes by the North Korean government, including cybercrime and information technology (IT) worker fraud.
The companies targeted by the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control are Ryujong Credit Bank, a North Korea-based financial institution that provided financial assistance to sanctions- evasion activities between China and North Korea, as well as a North Korea-based IT company that operates IT workers in China. Korea Mangyongdae Computer Technology Company and its president U Yong Su also have been sanctioned.
Jang Kuk Chol and Ho Chong Son, two North Korean bankers who have managed funds on behalf of the U.S-designated First Credit Bank, including funds linked to a ransomware actor that previously targeted U.S. victims, are also designated.
Finally, five North Korean financial institution representatives - Ho Yong Chol, Han Hong Gil, Jong Sung Hyok, Choe Chun Pom, and Ri Jin Hyok - who have enabled Pyongyang to process financial transactions in violation of UN sanctions were also sanctioned.
'North Korean state-sponsored hackers steal and launder money to fund the regime's nuclear weapons program,' said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley. 'By generating revenue for Pyongyang's weapons development, these actors directly threaten U.S. and global security. Treasury will continue to pursue the facilitators and enablers behind these schemes to cut off the DPRK's illicit revenue streams.'
The North Korean regime relies on a broad range of illicit activity, including cybercrime, to generate revenue for its WMD and ballistic missile programs and explicitly tasks its hackers to raise revenue using illicit methods. The Korean cyber actors are responsible for conducting high-level cyber-enabled espionage, disruptive cyberattacks, and financial theft at a scale unmatched by any other country, according to OFAC.
Over the past three years, North Korea-affiliated cybercriminals have stolen more than $3 billion, primarily in cryptocurrency, often using sophisticated techniques such as advanced malware and social engineering, it says.
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