Rogue States Project Chairman Harry Kazianis discusses the meeting between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korea's missile tests, and the US-South Korean response on "Mornings with Maria".
TO North Korean banker was indicted and two other cryptocurrency traders were sanctioned Monday for their alleged involvement in money laundering schemes to generate revenue for the Kim Jong-Un regime, US officials announced.
Sim Hyon Sop, 39, a representative of Korea Kwangson Banking Corporation, is accused of conspiring with Chinese national Wu Huihu, British Hong Kong national Cheng Hung Man and an individual calling himself "Jammy Chen" to use stolen funds of cryptocurrency exchanges to benefit North Korea.
The conspiracy involved the laundering of stolen crypto funds in US dollars that were later used to buy goods for North Korea, evading sanctions imposed by the Treasury Department to halt the country's ballistic missile programs.
FILE PHOTO: In this photo illustration, a North Korean flag is seen displayed on an Android mobile device with a figure of a hacker in the background. (Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Sim also received a separate indictment for allegedly helping North Korean IT workers gain employment at US-based blockchain development companies.
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"Today's indictments reveal North Korea's continued use of various means to circumvent US sanctionsU.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves said in a statement. "We can and will 'follow the money,' whether through cryptocurrency or the traditional banking system, to bring the appropriate charges against those who would help to finance this corrupt regime."
The Treasury Department also announced sanctions against Sim, Wu and Cheng for their involvement in the money laundering conspiracy.
FILE PHOTO: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a Politburo meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang. (Korea Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP / AP Newsroom)
North Korea has generated revenue through cryptocurrency theft and other schemes since at least 2017, stealing an estimated $1.7 billion worth of cryptocurrency last year alone.
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The money laundering scheme revealed on Monday was linked to the infamous Lazarus Group, a cybercrime gang North Korea-based company that was responsible for the 2014 Sony Pictures hack and other thefts over the past decade, according to the Treasury Department.
"The DPRK's use of illicit facilitation networks to access the international financial system and generate revenue using virtual currency for the regime's illegal weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs directly threatens international security," it said. the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Affairs. Intelligence said Brian Nelson in a statement on Monday.
