National Security Advisors of the United States, South Korea, and Japan convened to discuss a collective response to North Korea’s illicit crypto financing for weapons of mass destruction programs (WMD). The discussions were held during a trilateral meeting at the White House on Saturday.
Trilateral Cooperation on Economic Security and North Korea’s Cryptocurrency Thefts
Jake Sullivan, the US Advisor of National Security, Cho Tae-Yong of South Korea, and Takeo Akiba from Japan were present in the meeting. They discussed various issues, one of which was trilateral cooperation on economic security and the issue of North Korea’s cryptocurrency thefts in relation to its ongoing WMD program.
A recent report from TRM Labs revealed that hackers linked to North Korea managed to steal $200 million worth of cryptocurrencies between January and August 2023. This hack accounted for more than 20% of all stolen cryptocurrencies this year. The report also highlighted an alarming increase in cyber-attacks against cryptocurrency-related businesses by North Korea. The report suggested that North Korea may be turning to cryptos as a means to fund its weapons proliferation activity, which is happening concurrently with an escalation in the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
“This has coincided with an apparent acceleration in the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.”
Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics company, supported this claim in a February report stating that “most experts agree the North Korean government is using these stolen assets to fund its nuclear weapons programs.”
Monitoring North Korea’s Crypto-Related Activities
The international community has been closely monitoring North Korea’s crypto-related activities in recent times. In 2022, the United States accused the infamous North Korean hacking group, Lazarus Group, of stealing over $600 million from Axie Infinity’s Ronin Bridge. In response, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on North Korea’s cyber activities and added the ‘Sinbad’ mixer, used for laundering cryptocurrencies, to the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) specially designated sanctions list.
