In a recent trilateral meeting, officials from the United States, South Korea, and Japan convened to address the pressing issue of North Korea’s crypto thefts, which are believed to be funding its nuclear and ballistic missile endeavors. The White House disclosed that discussions in Seoul included strategies to combat the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s weapons of mass destruction program.
This high-level meeting involved U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, South Korea’s Cho Tae-Yong, and Japan’s Takeo Akiba. Their agenda encompassed a range of initiatives, including crisis consultation, ballistic missile defense data sharing, and collective response to DPRK’s illicit revenue generation from cryptocurrencies for its WMD programs.
The dialogue also touched upon North Korea’s interactions with Russia. North Korea has reportedly amassed billions in crypto assets through various heists, drawing global governmental scrutiny. One notable incident involved the Lazarus Group, linked to the DPRK, which stole over $600 million from Axie Infinity’s Ronin Bridge.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) has been actively sanctioning entities associated with these thefts, including crypto mixers used by North Korean hackers. Recently, OFAC targeted two crypto addresses linked to the Sinbad mixer, and international law enforcement seized Sinbad’s website.
OFAC’s sanctions extend to various wallet addresses and individuals accused of aiding North Korea’s money laundering efforts for its weapons program. The privacy tool Tornado Cash was notably sanctioned, with over $100 million in stolen crypto alleged to have passed through it. Developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev face legal challenges in the U.S. and the Netherlands, while a third developer, Roman Semenov, has been charged with money laundering and sanctions violations but remains at large.
For further insights into the scale of North Korea’s crypto thefts, a recent report by U.S. cybersecurity firm Recorded Future reveals that North Korean hackers have amassed about $3 billion in cryptocurrencies since 2017, half of which was stolen in the last year alone. This figure represents nearly half of North Korea’s total military expenses for a year, highlighting the significant impact of these cybercrimes.