US Sanctions North Korean Bankers, Institutions Over Money Laundering

The United States on Nov. 4 imposed sanctions on individuals and entities accused of assisting North Korea in laundering money generated from cyberespionage and illicit activities.

The Treasury said the measures aim to cut off financial resources that support Pyongyang’s nuclear programs because the communist regime in Pyongyang relies on such illicit activities to fund its ballistic missile and weapons of mass destruction programs.

More than $3 billion—mostly in cryptocurrency—has been siphoned off by North Korean-affiliated cybercriminals through advanced malware and social engineering over the past three years, according to the Treasury’s estimates. The department described the scale of financial theft by Pyongyang as unparalleled by any other nation.

“North Korean state-sponsored hackers steal and launder money to fund the regime’s nuclear weapons program,” said John Hurley, the Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

“By generating revenue for Pyongyang’s weapons development, these actors directly threaten U.S. and global security.”

As The Epoch Times’ Dorothy Li reports, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed penalties on two individuals named Jang Kuk Chol and Ho Jong Son, who are accused of helping manage $5.3 million in cryptocurrency and other funds on behalf of a financial institution previously sanctioned by the Treasury, First Credit Bank.

Some of the money can be traced back to a North Korean ransomware actor that previously targeted American victims and managed revenue from North Korean IT workers, the Treasury said.

The department also sanctioned Korea Mangyongdae Computer Technology Company and its president, U Yong Su.

The North Korea-based tech company allegedly used Chinese nationals as “banking proxies” to obscure the origin of funds generated by the North Korean IT workers’ illicit revenue generation schemes, it said.

Pyongyang employs banking representatives, financial institutions, and shell companies located in places such as Beijing and Moscow to launder funds generated through illicit financial activities, including IT worker fraud, digital asset theft, and sanctions evasion, according to the U.S. government.

Among those targeted is Ryujong Credit Bank, a North Korea-based financial institution accused of providing “financial assistance in sanctions avoidance activities between China and North Korea.”

“These activities have included the remittance of North Korea’s foreign currency earnings, money laundering, and financial transactions for overseas North Korean workers,” the department said.

In addition, four representatives of North Korean financial institutions based in China and Russia were also added to the sanctions list. Included is Ho Yong Chol, who allegedly facilitated the transfer of more than $2.5 million in U.S. dollars and Chinese yuan on behalf of U.S.-designated Korea Daesong Bank, while managing transactions exceeding $85 million for another North Korean state-affiliated entity.

The sanction came weeks after the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, an 11-nation group led by the United States, released the latest assessment of North Korea’s cyber operations.

North Korea’s cyber force is “a full-spectrum, national program operating at a sophistication approaching the cyber programs of China and Russia,” the report reads.

In late June, the U.S. Justice Department announced criminal charges against individuals allegedly involved in Pyongyang’s scheme to fund its nuclear weapon programs by helping North Korean IT workers get jobs at more than 100 American companies, including Fortune 500 groups.