The United States and South Korea announced new North Korean sanctions targeting thousands of IT workers. Many of them are based in China and Russia, also suspected of funding weapons of mass destruction and missile programs.
Kim Sang Man and the Chinyong IT Cooperation Company were sanctioned by the US Treasury Department for IT worker activities.
Kim and Chinyong were sanctioned separately by South Korea’s foreign ministry.
According to the Treasury, North Korea supervises thousands of IT workers worldwide, the majority of whom are in China and Russia. Workers “generate revenue that contributes to its unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs.”
According to the report, the workers apply for jobs using forged identification. They worked in “business, health and fitness, social networking, sports, entertainment, and lifestyle,” according to the Treasury Department.
The State Department of the United States has warned that North Korean IT workers may steal intellectual property.
South Korea previously sanctioned the 110th Research Center, Pyongyang University of Automation, and Technical Reconnaissance Bureau for cyber operations. Also for the illicit revenue generation that support North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction programs, according to the Treasury.
“Today’s action continues to highlight (North Korea’s) extensive illicit cyber and information technology worker operations, which finance the regime’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs,” said Brian Nelson, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
The latest announcement, according to South Korea’s foreign ministry, demonstrates joint US-South Korean efforts to halt North Korean cybercrime revenue.
The Treasury Department stated that North Korea’s offensive cyber efforts are led by the Technical Reconnaissance Bureau, which also supervises the Lazarus hackers.
Lazarus is accused of the most significant virtual currency heists. In March 2022, they allegedly stole $620 million in virtual currency from an Axie Infinity-related blockchain project.
