US Indicts North Korean Hackers, Intensifying Sanctions on North Korea

[Asia Economy Reporters Inho Yoo and Jieun Lee] The U.S. Department of Justice announced on the 17th (local time) that it has indicted three North Korean hackers.

This is the first action against North Korea since the inauguration of the Joe Biden administration, drawing attention to how it will affect future U.S. policy toward North Korea and inter-Korean relations.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in December last year, three hackers affiliated with North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau were indicted on charges of stealing over $1.3 billion (about 1.4 trillion KRW) in cash and cryptocurrency from banks and companies worldwide.

The indicted hackers use the names Park Jin-hyuk, Jeon Chang-hyuk, and Kim Il. They belong to the Reconnaissance General Bureau, North Korea's military intelligence agency. The Reconnaissance General Bureau operates hacking units known by various names such as the "Lazarus Group" and "APT38."

The prosecution stated that these individuals created the destructive ransomware virus WannaCry in May 2017 and conducted extensive conspiracies including hacking banks and cryptocurrency exchanges.

They are also accused of developing multiple malicious cryptocurrency apps from March 2018 to September last year, which could infiltrate victims' computers and were provided to hackers.

They targeted cryptocurrency exchanges, stealing $75 million from a Slovenian company in 2017, $25 million from an Indonesian company in 2018, and $11.8 million from a bank in New York.

Diplomatic circles are paying close attention to the impact this U.S. indictment of North Korean hackers will have on the ongoing review of North Korea policy and inter-Korean relations.

Most notably, the timing of the disclosure is significant. The case was originally indicted during the Donald Trump administration but has surfaced during the Biden administration’s review of North Korea policy.

The U.S. administration has already indicated that it will link this hacking incident to its North Korea policy.

Ned Price, spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, said at a briefing on the same day regarding the DOJ’s indictment of North Korean hackers, “North Korea’s malicious cyber activities threaten the United States and our allies and partners worldwide,” adding, “Our review of North Korea policy will comprehensively consider North Korea’s malicious activities and threats.”

In this context, some predict that the U.S. administration will impose high-intensity sanctions on North Korea.

One of the indicted North Korean hackers, Park Jin-hyuk, was previously caught hacking Sony Pictures in 2014. Then-President Barack Obama issued an executive order in 2015 imposing strong sanctions on the North Korean Reconnaissance General Bureau following the hacking incident.

Shin Beom-chul, director of the Foreign and Security Center at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, said, “The U.S. is not using the hacker indictment as a card to pressure North Korea on denuclearization,” adding, “However, unlike Trump, the Biden administration does not turn a blind eye to human rights and criminal issues in pursuit of denuclearization, so it will not overlook North Korea’s organized crimes.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.