2023-05-23 18:39:00
global |
[뉴욕=뉴스핌]Correspondent Kim Geun-cheol- The South Korean and U.S. governments are simultaneously taking sanctions to block North Korea’s malicious cyber activities and illegal earning of foreign currency through IT personnel.
According to Voice of America (VOA) and others, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on the 23rd (local time) that four organizations and one individual were involved in financing North Korea’s illegal weapons program development and malicious cyber activities. was announced to be sanctioned.
Institutions subject to sanctions include the Jinyeong Information Technology Development Cooperation Company, an IT company under the North Korean Ministry of National Defense, the Technical Reconnaissance Bureau under the General Bureau of Reconnaissance, and its affiliated organization, ‘110 Lab (LAB 110)’, and Pyongyang Automation University, also known as ‘Mirim University’. 4 places.
Along with this, the US government included Kim Sang-man, general manager of Jinyoung Information Technology Development Cooperation Company (Jinyoung), on the list of sanctions.
| Emails and social media accounts used by North Korean hackers. This is a diagram attached to the indictment of Park Jin-hyeok, a North Korean national, by the US Department of Justice in 2018.[사진=미 법무부/VOA 갈무리] |
The Ministry of Finance said that Jinyoung is an organization affiliated with the Ministry of People’s Armed Forces, which is subject to sanctions by the United Nations and the United States, and is involved in dispatching IT personnel to Russia and Laos through affiliated companies and agents.
It added that Kim Sang-man, the general manager of the camp office located in Vladivostok, Russia, was presumed to be involved in paying salaries to the families of North Korean workers dispatched abroad by the camp.
The Ministry of Finance pointed out that Pyongyang Automation University is one of North Korea’s top cyber education institutions, educating malicious cyber actors, many of whom work in cyber-related units under the General Bureau of Reconnaissance.
The Treasury Department also explained that the Technical Reconnaissance Bureau leads the development of North Korea’s offensive cyber tactics and tools and runs several departments, including an organization affiliated with the “Lazarus Group.”
The Lazarus Group earlier added that on March 23, 2022, it led the largest-ever cryptocurrency theft, stealing regarding $620 million.
The 110 Lab, which was also on the list of sanctions, committed cyber crimes once morest networks around the world, including Korea and the United States, including the 2013 hacking case of ‘Dark Seoul’ targeting Korean financial institutions and media companies, the Ministry of Finance said.
The Treasury Department explained in a press release that day that North Korea has thousands of highly skilled IT personnel around the world, mainly in China and Russia, to generate revenue for its illicit weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.
“Today’s action continues to highlight North Korea’s widespread cyberbullying activities and IT manpower operations that fund the regime’s illicit weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs,” said Brian Nelson, Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. “, he stated.
US Secretary of State Tony Blincoln also said in a separate statement that day, “The United States remains firmly committed to fighting North Korea’s illegal activities to steal money from international financial institutions and organizations to generate profits.”
“North Korea’s extensive illicit cyber and IT personnel operations threaten international security by funding the regime and its dangerous activities, including illicit WMDs and ballistic missiles.”
Meanwhile, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs also announced on the same day that it would independently sanction three organizations and seven individuals related to North Korea’s IT manpower and foreign currency earning through it.
In addition to the institutions designated by the US that day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also included Dongmyeong Technology Trading Company, an IT company under the Ministry of Defense, and Goldstar Academy, which trains North Korean IT personnel and hackers.
In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also announced the address of Jinyoung’s virtual asset wallet to prevent the payment of virtual assets to North Korean IT personnel abroad.
In particular, Geumseong Academy is known as an arts gifted school where Kim Jong-un’s wife, Ri Sol-ju, graduated.
In addition to Kim Sang-man, Kim Ki-hyeok, representative of Russia, Kim Seong-il, representative of China, Jeon Yeon-geun, representative of Laos, and Kim Hyo-dong, head of the Dongmyeong Technology Trading Company, were also subject to sanctions.
The U.S. government believes that half of North Korea’s missile development funds are appropriated through theft of cryptocurrency and cyberattacks, and is strengthening cyber-related cooperation with North Korea, such as imposing sanctions in cooperation with South Korea to block them.
On the 24th of last month, the South Korean and US governments also put the same person on the list of sanctions in the cyber field, and on the 24th, a joint symposium will be held in San Francisco to block North Korean IT manpower activities.
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