MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control has imposed sanctions on eight North Korean nationals and two Russians for their roles in North Korea government-run IT worker schemes that targeted U.S. businesses and generated revenue for Pyongyang's unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.
'The North Korean regime continues targeting and exploiting American companies through fraudulent activities conducted by its overseas IT operatives, who weaponize sensitive data and extort businesses for substantial payments,' said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. 'Under President Trump's leadership, Treasury will continue to use all available tools to protect U.S. businesses from these malicious activities and hold those responsible accountable.'
North Korea continues to rely on fraudulent documents, stolen identities, and fabricated personas to conceal its IT workers and secure employment with legitimate companies in the United States and its allies. The North Korean regime then appropriates most of these workers' wages, generating hundreds of millions of dollars to fund its unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs. Wednesday's action targets key facilitators and financial networks that help sustain these schemes and move illicit proceeds on behalf of Pyongyang.
These networks have leveraged sophisticated cryptocurrency transactions, money laundering techniques, and artificial intelligence tools to generate and transfer millions of dollars for the North Korean government. In addition to generating revenue, the Korean IT workers have exploited their access to corporate networks to deploy malware, exfiltrate sensitive data, and steal proprietary information, creating significant risks for businesses worldwide.
The individuals targeted by the Treasury include Ilya Aleksandrovich Boykov and Vitold Viktorovich Obertas, the Russian intermediaries for illicit Korean financial transactions.
The sanctioned Korean nationals include Kim Ki Hyok and Kim Hyo Dong, who managed groups of Russia-based IT workers, monitored their work at victim companies and collected the cryptocurrency income they generated.
The Treasury also sanctioned Russia-based North Korean IT workers Kim Kyong Ju, Ri Thae Chol, So Hyon Jin, Han Yu Song, Kim Sung Gwan, and Hyon Se Il.
They have collectively generated more than $750,000 on behalf of the First Financial and Technical Development Center, a Korean controlled company in Russia that uses North Korean IT workers to generate millions of dollars on behalf of the Korean government.
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