This move comes just nine days after Seoul designated another 11 individuals and 15 organizations as targets of independent sanctions on Dec. 17.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry announced Thursday that “15 North Korean IT entity workers and one related entity have been designated as targets of independent sanctions against the North.”
The sanctioned individuals, including Pak Hung-ryong, Yun Jong-sik and Ri Il-jin, belong to General Bureau 313 of North Korea’s Munitions Industry Department, which is responsible for weapons production and related research and development. The Foreign Ministry said that the individuals have been working overseas to earn foreign currency in the IT sector.
North Korea’s Munitions Industry Department is also subject to UN Security Council sanctions.
The Foreign Ministry explained that General Bureau 313 dispatches large numbers of North Korean IT personnel overseas and uses the foreign currency earned by these individuals to secure funds for Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs. It is also involved in developing military-related software.
In particular, among the 15 individuals designated Thursday, one named Kim Chol-min earned a large amount of foreign currency by working undercover at U.S. and Canadian companies and sent the earnings as remittances to Pyongyang. Another individual named Kim Ryu-song was already indicted in a U.S. court on Dec. 11 for violating U.S. unilateral sanctions for several years, the Foreign Ministry said.
In addition, Sin Jong-ho, who served as the head of the Dandong branch of the Chosun Kum Jong Economics Information Technology Exchange Co., which dispatched a large number of North Korean IT personnel overseas and contributed much money to fund North Korea’s military programs, was also included in the list of individual sanctions by the South Korean government.
“North Korea is continuing to illegally earn foreign currency through malicious cyber activities such as stealing virtual assets, receiving work orders from overseas IT personnel, and hacking,” the Foreign Ministry said, adding that the North’s activities seriously threaten international peace and security.
According to a recent analysis by global blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, North Korea is estimated to have stolen approximately $1.3 billion this year, 61 percent of the total cryptocurrency stolen worldwide and the largest stolen sum ever.
The new sanctions will take effect starting midnight on Dec. 30.
Financial transactions and foreign exchange transactions with targets designated as sanctions require prior approval from the Financial Services Commission or the Governor of the Bank of Korea, and transactions made without authorization may be subject to punishment under relevant laws.
BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]
