North Korea’s Cyber Theft: Illegal Funds Funneled To Weapons Programs

Key Points:

• North Korea earns hundreds of millions of dollars every year through the theft of cryptocurrencies and other methods.
• Illicit funds are being funneled into the country’s illegal weapons development programs, which is a growing concern for the U.S. and South Korea.

U.S. and South Korea tackle North Korea’s cyber threat. The country earns millions in illegal funds through theft of cryptocurrencies.

The United States and South Korea recently conducted a working group meeting on North Korea’s cyber threat. During the meeting, the two sides agreed that North Korea is earning hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal funds every year through the theft of cryptocurrencies and other methods. Such illicit funds are being funneled into the country’s illegal weapons development programs, which has become a growing concern for the U.S. and ROK.

To address this issue, the U.S. and ROK have been working together to disrupt North Korea’s ability to generate revenue for its unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs. One important aspect of this is dealing with the country’s malicious cyber activity, including its theft of virtual currencies and information technology workers posing as non-DPRK nationals while working abroad.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service reported earlier this month that North Korea stole at least US$700 worth of virtual assets in 2022 alone. This highlights the urgent need to expose and prevent North Korea’s cyber theft, which is why the U.S.-ROK working group is pursuing a wide range of actions to address this issue.

During the recent working group meeting, the U.S. and ROK discussed how to more effectively partner with foreign governments and industry leaders to raise awareness of the threat posed by DPRK cyber actors. They also focused on increasing information sharing between governments and the private sector on cybersecurity issues. This underscores the close collaboration between the U.S. and ROK governments to tackle the issue of North Korea’s cyber threat.

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