North Korea evades UN sanctions using crypto for weapons, raw materials: report
North Korea is circumventing UN sanctions by using cryptocurrency to trade raw materials and military weaponry, and by deploying large numbers of IT workers abroad to launder funds and generate income for Pyongyang, an international sanctions monitoring group has reported.
Under leader Kim Jong-un, Pyongyang has ramped up cyber operations in recent years, turning hacking into a key source of foreign currency in the face of biting sanctions over its nuclear and weapons programmes.
The Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team found that North Korea’s sophisticated cyber force had stolen at least US$1.65 billion from January to September, including US$1.4 billion from the crypto exchange Bybit in February.
That was in addition to North…
