The U.S. Treasury Department has taken significant steps to curb North Korea's use of cryptocurrency for illicit activities, sanctioning individuals and a front company linked to the regime's illegal financial schemes.
This marks the latest effort to disrupt the country's well-documented attempts to funnel money into its weapons programmes.
The sanctioned network relied on a company based in the United Arab Emirates, Green Alpine Trading LLC, to convert cryptocurrencies into cash.
According to the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the company played a pivotal role in processing digital assets for North Korea.
Green Alpine Trading is now on the U.S. sanctions list, alongside two Chinese nationals, Lu Huaying and Zhang Jian, who were involved in the operation.
The action was carried out with support from the UAE, marking the latest example of international cooperation in targeting illicit financial operations tied to North Korea.
The sanctions freeze the assets of Huaying and Jian, prohibiting U.S. individuals and businesses from engaging with them or their company.
Bradley T. Smith, Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, highlighted that these sanctions are part of an ongoing U.S. strategy to disrupt North Korea’s money laundering operations, which fund its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.
Smith noted,
“The DPRK continues to use agents and proxies to access the international financial system to conduct illicit financial activities, including fraudulent IT work, digital assets heists, and money laundering, in support of its unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs."
North Korea has long been associated with cybercrime in the crypto space, using digital asset theft as a primary source of foreign currency.
The Lazarus Group, a North Korean hacking collective, is one of the most notorious groups linked to large-scale crypto heists, including the 2022 $600 million hack of the Ronin Ethereum sidechain.
The U.S. has accused North Korean hackers of employing various tactics, including impersonating high-level executives or recruiters in the crypto world to lure individuals into clicking malicious links.
These latest sanctions come on the heels of other actions targeting North Korean entities and individuals.
Just a day earlier, the U.S. had imposed new sanctions on North Korea, aiming to further disrupt its support for Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
According to reports, North Korean hackers have been responsible for up to 50% of the regime’s foreign currency earnings, much of which is allegedly channelled into the development of weapons of mass destruction.
The Treasury's statement highlights the ongoing effort needed to dismantle the complex financial networks North Korea has established to support its nuclear ambitions.
While sanctions and investigations into these illicit activities continue, the global community remains on high alert, trying to stem the flow of illicit funds tied to Pyongyang’s destabilising actions.
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