In a joint statement released on Friday, the United States, South Korea, and Japan criticized North Korea’s “malicious” cyber activities in support of its weapons programs.
U.S. and allied officials and analysts assert that crypto currency assets seized by North Korean hackers have been a crucial source of funding for the sanctions-plagued nation’s nuclear program.
The U.S. Treasury Department published a report on April 6 alleging that countries such as North Korea were using decentralized finance (DeFi), a growing subset of the cryptocurrency industry, to transfer and cleanse illicitly obtained funds.
North Korea has categorically rejected hacking and other forms of sabotage.
This week, the nuclear envoy of South Korea met with his American and Japanese counterparts in Seoul, where they all agreed to firmly condemn North Korea’s recent nuclear and missile tests.
The envoys issued a joint statement expressing “alarm that DPRK IT personnel abroad continue to use false identities and nationalities” to evade U.N. sanctions and generate revenue for missile programs.
They requested that UN member nations comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions and return North Korean laborers.
In addition, “we are very concerned about how the DPRK supports these programs by seizing and concealing currency and acquiring intelligence through hostile cyber operations,” according to the statement.
Currently, the situation on the Korean Peninsula is quite tense
Friday, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which administers inter-Korean relations, North Korea remained unresponsive to daily phone calls with South Korea via a liaison line.
Despite North Korea’s silence, the ministry has pledged to closely monitor the situation.
The United States and South Korea have been conducting their annual spring military exercises since March
In recent weeks, Pyongyang has intensified its own military actions in response to these exercises. Iran conducted a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking anywhere in the United States and displayed new, compact nuclear warheads.
As these examinations and drills continue, there has been a heated exchange of words. Thursday, Pyongyang alleged that military drills between the United States and South Korea brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.
Kim Gunn, the chief nuclear negotiator for South Korea, describes North Korea’s nuclear ambitions as “nothing more than a self-destructive boomerang.”
Friday, during a meeting with U.S. and Japanese officials, Kim stated, “North Korea misleads its people into believing that nuclear weapons can address all of its problems.”
Friday, the Japanese government extended its trade embargo against North Korea by two years, with humanitarian exceptions.
